SUPREME COURT OF CAMEROON
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ALLOCATION OF THE CHIEF JUSTICE OF THE SUPREME COURT OF CAMEROON
(SOLEMN REOPENING OF THE SUPREME COURT)
Daniel MEKOBE SONE
22 February 2023
2
The President of the Senate
The Honourable President of National Assembly
The President of the Economic and Social Council
The Prime Minister, Head of Government
The President of the Constitutional Council
The Minister State, Minister of Justice, Keeper of the Seals
Honourable Ministers of State
Honourable Ministers
Minister Delegates and Secretaries of State
Members of the Diplomatic Corps and representatives of International Organisations
The President of the Bar Association
The President of the Association of Sheriff Bailiffs
The President of the National Association of Notaries Public
Distinguished Senior officials
The Governor of the Centre Region
The Mayor of Yaoundé City
Distinguished Judicial and Legal officers
Dear Lawyers,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The Supreme Court is grateful you have accepted, in spite your busy and delicate schedules to honour its invitation with your distinguished presence, at this solemn reopening of the Supreme Court.
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
This year we have willingly chosen to share with you, an anxiety provoking theme for our society and our citizens: “Cameroonian justice confronted with the rise of Information technology and communication.”
The development of Information and Communication Technologies (Internet, digital, computer, digitalisation)(1) considerably shambles the life of our citizens and businesses.
Nowadays, an illiterate is no longer someone who cannot read or write, but rather anyone who does not master the usage of computer tools.
Cameroonian justice is not side-lined from these evolving technologies. It is confronted with the computerised revolution, ranging from digital deployment, the advent of GPS and electronic payment methods, just to mention the most recurrent.
(1) ALAUZEN (M), « L'Etat plateforme et l'identification numérique des usagers », In Revue Réseaux n°213, 2019, pp 211-239 BOME EKALLE (M) La dématérialisation de l'administration publique camerounaise, Dissertation Master 2, University of Douala 2020
Justice should adapt to these new technologies and provide appropriate solutions to increasingly complex disputes emerging in our country.
Technologies seem to evolve faster than laws. Is the law late in relation to the exponential growth of technologies? Is Cameroonian justice efficiently confronting the development of cyber criminality?
To illustrate our discussions, we have chosen to explore some judicial aspects where the new technologies are gradually gaining ground and directly or indirectly invite justice into metamorphosis.
In civil matters, the computerisation of the civil status registry is an essential mission conferred on the Nation Civil Status Bureau (BUNEC) $^{(2)}$ .
Soon, Civil Status registries signed by Presidents of the Courts before they can be used in civil status centres and Councils will be a far off memory. Hence, will it be easy to save electronic files without running the risk of manipulation of data?
The judicial inspections in civil status centres to search for irregularities in the counter foil of civil status acts will comply to a new system.