Judiciary, DPS to transition to eCitation system in January 2024
The House of Representatives has approved the CNMI Judiciary’s proposed rules governing traffic procedure and other infractions that are intended to transition from a paper-based citation system to an electronic citation system starting January 2024.
All 17 House members present last Thursday adopted the House Judiciary and Governmental Operations Committee’s recommendation to approve the proposed rules.
The JGO Committee, chaired by Rep. Marissa Renee Flores (Ind-Saipan), said the eCitation system offers numerous benefits that are advantageous to law enforcement authorities. Such benefits include faster processing, since handwritten citations take longer; legibility, thereby eliminating errors and reducing dismissals; and operational efficiency, since citations can be sent immediately from the police vehicle to the courthouse.
Other benefits include increased safety for officers, since they would be off the shoulder of the road faster; increased community control, as officers would spend less time on the side of the road and more time patrolling the community; and budget savings, with law enforcement authorities spending less on paper and other costs associated with paper-based citations.
With the technological advancements occurring in today’s day and age, it would be appropriate to acclimate the people according to the times while still working to achieve objectives, the committee said. These changes are necessary for modernization and expedition purposes.
CNMI Supreme Court Chief Justice Alexandro C. Castro submitted the proposed rules to the Legislature last Nov. 2.
The proposed rules will become effective 60 days after submission, unless disapproved by a majority of the members of either House or Senate.
Castro had explained that eCitation is a platform that will allow law enforcement to generate citations and transmit information electronically to online court management system.
In preparation for this new technology, the Supreme Court Rules Committee made many revisions to current rules governing traffic procedure, aiming to streamline and modernize the issuance and filing of traffic citations through electronic means.
Castro said the proposed rules also formalize the inclusion of other non-traffic payable violations, such as citations for violations of the Litter Control Act, in the Superior Court’s traffic docket.
Rep. Marissa Renee Flores
Chief Justice Alexandro C. Castro
