Thanks to the Open Trial app, Malawi is set to become the first country worldwide to offer its citizens easier access to the federal justice system via technology, according to an IT Web Africa Report.

The app, which has been designed for smartphones and tablets, is being tested in a bid to ensure transparency of the country’s legal system by opening it to public scrutiny.

According to Frank Richardson, Open Trial’s chief executive, the app performs three functions. ‘One is to inform people of their basic rights with regard to fair trials and detentions, the other is a checklist that people can use to determine whether their friends or family members or detainees have been detained legally and that the trial was constitutional. The third is the reporting function.’

The app, which is in a pilot stage, has garnered support from organisations such as the London-based Solicitors International Human Rights Group, International Bridges to Justice, Transparency International, Hague Institute of the Law, Amnesty International and Lawyers Without Borders.

The app is available in two languages – English and Chichewa – and is free for download to Android devices.

23 May 2017
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