Egypt launched on Sunday the first phase of a new online system allowing the holding of pre-trial detention hearings remotely.

The first phase of the new system links the New Cairo Court to a number of prisons including Tora and El-Nahda via an electronic network.

The system allows judges to hold the hearings via secure TV networks that connect the court to the defendants, who will be sitting in designated halls inside jails alongside their lawyers.

The launching ceremony was attended by Justice Minister Omar Marwan and Communication Minister Amr Talaat, as well as senior officials with the justice, interior and communications ministries.

According to a statement issued following the ceremony, Minister Marwan called for the expansion of the project to cover all courts nationwide, stressing the significance of the project in achieving speedy justice and containing the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

Minister Talaat said the new system is part of the broader ‘Digital Egypt’ plan to better provide services for citizens.

Today’s step comes one month after the country’s prosecutor-general launched a new online mechanism, known as the unified online petition system, which allows citizens or their agents to deliver their lawsuits via the official website of the Egyptian public prosecution as part of the state’s policy of digital transformation.

Egypt is currently paying special attention to digital transformation. It has allocated EGP 12.7 billion ($797 million) for gradual digital transformation in the FY 2020/21 budget, according to Finance Minister Mohamed Maait.

The ambitious plan targets the digitisation of all government services countrywide.