NTANDOYENKOSI BANDA M205789

APPLICATION OF ICT IN LAW AND GOVERNANCE

• INTRODUCTION - Computers play a pivotal role in the everyday life of people be in science, art or commerce. The main impulse of the below essay is to
highlight the application of ICT in law and governance as it reduces corruption, effective communication, helps in the keeping of legal documents. However,
it would be clear abysmal ignorance for the writer not to take into consideration the fact that the application is however limited to some extent and shall also
be discussed in the essay. The presentation shall start with the definition clause of key words and then discuss the applications and limitations in detail.

• According to Nnoli, governance on the other hand involves the processes and stages by which a government carries out its functions. It
determines the relationship between the rulers and ruled in any society. It is also a process of social engagement between the rulers and
the ruled.
• Law is a set of rules and regulations enforced by the state that govern human behaviour and are binding to the society and if not followed prosecution and
punishment may be enforced. Prof L. Madhuku states that it is this enforceability that distinguishes law from other rules
• Information technology is a business sector with computing, including hardware, software, telecommunications and generally anything involved in the
transmittal of information or the systems that facilitate communication. These include smartphones, iPad, and laptops to give a short list. An introduction to law
weaver press 2010 Prof. L. Madhuku
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APPLICATION OF ICT

 APPLICATION IN TERMS REDUCTION OF CORRUPTION

• information communication technology systems play a pivotal role in the field of
law and governance as it helps in the reduction of corruption. Reducing corruption
in land management systems by using block chain
• According to a study by Transparency International, an estimated $700 million is
being paid in bribes at land registration administrators across India.
• The government India state is utilizing block chain technology to address issues of
fraud and corruption in the state by implementing a block chain-based platform
which would make land ownership data records encrypted and thus incorruptible
and transparent
• This role played by ICT helps the law to convict those who would have been involved
in such activities hence resulting in law enforcement and good governance.

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APPLICATION CONTINUES

 APPLICATION IN COMMUNICATION
• Communication can be simply defined as the passing of information from the sender to the
receiver.
• Smartphones and other communication tools makes the passing of information from one
source.
• Lawyer might contact their clients from every comer pf the world thus making the work
easier than before.
• Lawyers are also able to access any information for examples cases and statutes very easy
from the internet websites such as ZIMLI.COM.
• They can even share documents with their clients and other lawyers in stages such as
discovery in civil procedure.
• In the academic field of law, ICT has been applicable in e-learning platforms such as google
classroom and zoom, these have been effective and therefore applicable to a greater extent.

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APPLICATION CONTINUES

 APPLICATION IN TERMS OF LEGAL DOCUMENTS

• Information communication systems are applicable in law and governance
when one takes into consideration the fact that most of these provide storage
for legal documents.
• Computers consist of hard drives which have large gigabits for storage of
legal documents such as cases and the statutes.
• More so, there are storage sites such as google drive and Skye drive provide
online storages hence being very useful in the field of law and governance.

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IMPORTANCE OF ICT IN GOVERNANCE

 SERVICES
• information systems to improve governance is online services, it is one the
function of computers to improve efficiency in governance. This is because it
reduces the cost of service since information can be shared via online .
• In developed countries they are now using the Internet to file tax returns,
make benefit claims, apply for immigration visas, renew vehicle road tax,
apply for passports or book medical appointments. More over communication
can be done easily and fast and producing effective results

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IMPORTANCES CONTINUES

 TAXATION
• National ID systems to improve tax compliance and provision of public
services. Asia is home to nearly a quarter of the world’s population with no
official proof of identity.
• India’s digital ID program has now registered approximately 1.2 billion Indians
covering 99% of the adult population, and it is being used to deliver
government subsidies, benefits, and services.
• On the back of this national ID program, India is improving governance in
other areas such as tax enforcement and compliance. In July 2017 it rolled
out the Goods and Services Tax (GST), with all filings required to be done
electronically through the GST Network a web-based one-stop shop for all of
India’s indirect tax requirements.
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IMPORTANCES CONTINUE

 EDUCATION
• Quality formal education is the foundation of skills development. For
instance, leveraging the widespread use of social media in the Philippines,
the (CMS) initiative is a community monitoring tool that uses crowdsourcing
technology to improve the quality of public education. Developed in
partnership with the Department of Education, CMS monitors and produces
reports on various aspects of public education services, from specific
government education programs to the quality of education infrastructure. Its
use has resulted in faster response times from government on a range of
issues, from the lack of textbooks to classroom repairs to misreported
enrolment rates.

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HOWEVER

 LIMITATIONS OF THE APPLICATIONS

• However, one should note that to a lesser extent there are certain there are
limitation to the application of ICT in law and governance. There are no court
sessions or trial that can be held using ICT tools but the lawyers must be in
person to provide their arguments