ecase Management: an international survey in judicial organisations

Transcription

1 Innovation is a top priority ecase Management: an international survey in judicial organisations Dr. Erwin Rooze Rosaconsult

2 Erwin Rooze short curriculum vitae Doctors degree in scientiae administrandi - on a thesis titled Effective Strategic Problem Formulation how can IT provide support in this phase of decision making 4 years of experience in business & ICT consultancy for financial companies 6 years advisory within the Netherlands Council for the Judiciary process management, innovation management, quality & knowledge management 4 years of experience as an independent advisor (international -

3 Key issues Improving on Case Management is worth IT Any judiciary has within Case Management three different systems that need support Applying ecase Management is different for process types (special, regular, mass) It is smart to learn from best practices Law change is needed to enable electronic communication with courts

4 Outline of this presentation 1.Context of (electronic) Case Management 2.Three management systems in Judicial ecm! 3.What is the electronic in Judicial ecm? 4.International survey after best practices 5.Lessons learned on technology innovation 6.Lessons learned on change management 7.Key points revisited

5 1. Context of Case Management - goals Desire to improve on performance Ability to handle more cases (no backlogs) More efficiency (saves money) and effectiveness (e.g. safer society) Assure consistent case handling Faster completion times (justice delayed is justice denied) Better service to the public (also electronic services)

6 Context - relevant e -policies in EU E-Justice E-Law Provide a more secure access to legal procedures for all parties concerned Provide access to a database of legislation and case law E-Democracy (e-participation / e-voting) Using the democratic potential of the information society Eur. Commission for the Efficiency of Justice Access to justice, efficient and effective operations, quality policies, protection of independence

7 Context evolution at Court of Justice

8 Context... total budget for judiciary 0,10% - 0,85% GDP (Courts, prosecution & legal aid) Source: Cepej, 2008

9 Context... the budget More than 5%: - Netherlands - Ireland - Austria - Denmark - Montenegro - Norway - Romania Source: Cepej, 2008

10 2. Definition Judicial Case Management The optimisation of primary processes in terms of completion time, costs and quality by managing the progress in case handling using logistic management, procedure management and specific content management. The Netherlands Council for the Judiciary

11 Other definitions Australia The main purpose is to ensure that each case is resolved promptly and economically in a manner and at a cost to the parties and the Court that is reasonable in the circumstances of the case. So far as practicable, this means dealing with each case in ways which are proportionate to the: complexity of the issues; and USA / Saari likely costs of the case. to expedite the disposition of all cases in a manner consistent with fairness to all parties, to enhance the quality of litigation, to assure equal access to the adjudicative process for all litigants; and to minimize the uncertainties associated with processing cases.

12 2. Management of Judiciaries A) Case management the primary processes Managing how cases are handled in proceedings of criminal law, civil law, administrative law Using caseflow management or workload management B) Court management the secondary processes Strategic management Financial management Organisation and general operation of the court Keeping statistics and making reports

13 Three management systems in CM CASE Logistics management Inbound logistics, distribution of files, outbound logistics Procedure management Performing work processes that meet the requirements of the law and quality standards Justice content management Choices made by judges - tracks!

14 Logistics management Distribution of documents, access to the file and recording of changes by people in the front office, the back office and the case handlers: judge(s) and clerk. Systems: A large amount of small cases (6 pages) requires another logistics approach than a mega case of pages.

15 Procedure management Case identification Checking the inbound documents Case registration Who determines the court fees and how is it collected? Scheduling case events How to control the progress after the hearing or trial? Having a court session Writing the court decision (and quality control) Sending and publication of the court decision Closing the case and storing final records (archiving) Management on the total completion time

16 Justice content management UK is well known for its tracks Small claims, fast track, multi track Netherlands Law: small claims in a different procedure Judge: Differentiation in case development Oral or written route within a civil procedure Judge: Referral of cases to ADR

17 Management and process types Low Complexity of cases High Low Special Volume of cases Regular High Mass

18 3. The electronics in ecm Workflow for file distribution Tracking and tracing Capacity allocation Automatic actions Control on milestones Delegating tasks - Decision support for selecting an efficient and effective track - Electronic decision forms - Tools to structure a case

19 Place among other technologies

20 Electronic Logistics in ecm Electronic inbound logistics Electronic initiation of a court procedure Electronic filing of documents Electronic case handling Automated administration Digital workflow of documents and tasks Planning events, availability and milestones Electronic outbound logistics Electronic sending to parties & digital archiving Electronic publication of case law e-justice Core e-law

21 ICT in procedural steps Administration of changes in the case Automatic collection of court fees Informing judges on milestones (time limits) Using video conferencing in court sessions Recording of proceedings Support in making court documents

22 Different systems for process types? Low Complexity of cases High + Document Support? Low Special Control Volume of cases Regular + Reengineer & automate? High Mass

23 4. International survey Three partners Focus: Business / Strategy Technology Organization and Change

24 Countries selected Austria Mahnverfahren: digitization of inbound and outbound logistics (6,6 mln digital documents) Western Australia ICMS project: integral approach Belgium Phenix project: major law changes 2007 Finland Automation of post delivery (e-letters) 1999 and online query Italy workflow management 2000 Estonia digital signature by courts 2003 Romania Ecris 2002 allows the standardization of the activities and procedures and the automatic publication and distribution of files

25 Austria - goals Offer electronic justice to the public Make information better available to the public Integrated text processing On line help and strong search capabilities Publication of court decisions on the Internet Integrated electronic and paper postal office Digital archives

26 Austria Mahnverfahren (Payment order)

27 Austria Mahnverfahren II Electronic legal communication (85% of all civil claims are sent electronically > 2 mln) Mailing facility for all outbound documents Automatic collection of court fees In case of objection, data can be used in Court Automation for trial Automatic checks (proposal for decision) Automatic monitoring of period of objection and enforceability

28 Western Australia - goals Business policy: More flexibility in case of changes of legislation More transparency by making information better available Handle more cases faster with smaller budgets Technological: Improve maintenance by creating a single uniform integrated system Make lodging of electronic documents possible

29 Western Australia development ICMS

30 Estonia - Digital signature Personal Data file Copies the visual information Can be read without restriction Certificate for identification Different infosystems Signing of s Certificate for Digital signatures No limitations in scope or use Equivalent to hand written signatures

31 Finland: electronic post & online query Kyösti online query on operational database The general public can get information on pending case of courts of appeal and the supreme court Available is bibliographic information of the cases, the names of the parties and the phases in the court procedure. The system plays a large role in developing more openness in court procedures

32 Romania Ecris Consists of a Case and Document Management System (CDMS) and a Legal Library and Documentation Systems (LLDS) In 2001 ECRIS was first installed and the Romanian Supreme Court of Justice within a programme financed by The Netherlands (a MATRA project). The project was a success, optimizing the work of personnel by decreasing their workload while improving quality. ECRIS covers all relevant business processes within the justice system: Scheduling, Dossier generation, Subpoena, Evaluation of petitions, Investigation, Judgment, Archive, Report production

33 5. Lessons on technology innovation A mixed view on internal electronic operations Lots of experience with appliance on mass type Focused structuring of files is necessary Digitization makes procedure innovation possible The need of the judiciary for workflow management is not unique A shared service center for outbound mail (paper/electronic) has high benefits

34 Functionalities found in ecase Management

35 6. Lessons on change management The application of ecase Management should be different for different types of primary processes (mass / regular / special) An iterative development approach works Making it easy and economic to provide material to the court in electronic form really works Analysis of the similarities in work processes is necessary (business architecture) For digitization the legislation must be amended

36 7. Key issues - revisited Improving on Case Management is worth IT Any judiciary has within Case Management three different systems that need support Applying Judicial Case Management differs for process types (special, regular, mass) It is smart to learn from best practices Law change is needed to enable electronic communication with courts

37 Innovation is a top priority ecase Management: an international survey in judicial organisations dr Erwin J. Rooze