SINGAPORE - The State Courts of Singapore have bagged two awards for service innovation in the FutureGov Singapore Awards 2015, it said in a statement on Tuesday.

The State Courts won the awards for an electronic case management system, called the Integrated Criminal Case Filing and Management System (ICMS), and a system - the Primary Justice Project (PJP) - that allows parties to settle their disputes earlier and at a lower cost.

The two awards, which are among 15 award categories that honour Singapore's top government modernisation projects, were given out at the Raffles Hotel on Tuesday.

The ICMS is an e-filing case management system that has transformed the criminal justice system from a paper-based process to an electronic one. It tracks criminal and youth court cases from registration to disposal, enabling enforcement agencies to commence criminal prosecutions and other criminal matters electronically at any time of the day, without making a trip to the courthouse.

The system also enables accurate, complete and timely sharing, retrieval and exchange of relevant information on case status, outcomes and court orders, facilitating greater accessibility, efficiency, transparency and effectiveness for the stakeholders in the criminal justice system.

The PJP offers paid, basic legal services at a fixed fee and is geared towards helping parties to resolve their disputes earlier, and at much lower costs, through the use of alternative dispute resolution services at the pre-filing stage.

Presiding Judge of the State Courts, Judicial Commissioner See Kee Oon, said the two awards show that the State Courts are committed to providing timely dispute resolution and excellent court services.

He said that through mediation and other alternative dispute resolution solutions, parties can settle their disputes earlier, more expediently and at lower costs than through litigation.

"Most importantly, they have a chance to preserve their relationships," he added.