In February 2016, NCSC facilitated a visit by a number of Chief Justices from the Caribbean region to Nigeria, for the signing of a memorandum of understanding between NCSC, the National Judicial Council of Nigeria (NJC), and the Supreme Court of Trinidad and Tobago.
The trip was hosted by the Supreme Court of Nigeria, and was attended by Chief Justices Ivor Archie (Trinidad), Janice Pereira (Eastern Caribbean), Hartman Longley (The Bahamas), Marston Gibson (Barbados), and NCSC Vice President, Jeffrey Apperson.
The memorandum of understanding paves the way for the development of an automated court case management system (CCMS) for the Juvenile Court of Trinidad and Tobago. The CCMS will be based on the system designed and developed by NCSC and the NJC for the Nigerian courts. The Juvenile Court project is implemented by the United National Development Programme, and is funded by the United States Agency for International Development, with technical assistance offered by NCSC.
It is hoped that following the implementation of the CCMS at the Juvenile Court of Trinidad and Tobago, the system will be adopted in other Caribbean countries. The visit provided the Chief Justices with an opportunity to discuss the functioning of the CCMS, and to explore the possibility of future collaborations in developing automated court case management systems for their respective jurisdictions.
In August 2013, the NJC contracted with NCSC to design and implement an automated court case management system for the Nigerian courts. The CCMS will be introduced into pilot courts in Nigeria at three levels: the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals, and the High Court. In addition to providing consulting and technical services, NCSC also provided the NJC with a software framework to support the CCMS.