Courts (finally) get wired

By Leon Engelbrecht, ITWeb senior writer

Johannesburg, 24 Aug 2007

Government's efforts to modernise document management and workflow in the criminal justice system (CJS) is becoming tangible. This follows the installation of a series of ICT solutions in the country's courtrooms and police stations.

Justice minister Brigitte Mabandla told Parliament that modernisation remains a key priority for her department and the Justice Crime Prevention and Security (JCPS) Cluster.

She said the state has, in recent years, allocated substantial amounts to the police, justice and prison departments to achieve a greater level of interoperability and to form a single picture of the CJS.

"This will have a cumulative positive impact on the functioning of the courts," she told the National Assembly in a written answer to a question. Mabandla provided no budget or figures for the projects, and no one was available this morning to provide answers.

Systems being rolled out interdepartmentally in the JCPS cluster include:

* An "E-Scheduler" case management solution for the courts;
* A Justice Deposit Account System (JDAS) to track trust monies;
* A digital court recording system;
* An audiovisual postponement CCTV system so that prisoners need not be transported to court for postponements;
* A workflow system for the Legal Aid Board;
* Linking the police's Case Administration System (CAS) to the Legal Aid Board and the courts' E-Scheduler to facilitate the electronic transfer of pertinent data;
* Linking the E-Scheduler to the prison department's admissions and release system (A&RS) for inmates;
* Linking the CAS with the "Crimm" system that contains the criminal histories of those who have had run-ins with the law;
* Connecting "Crimm", the A&RS as well as the Home Affairs National Identification System (Hanis), the Automated Finger Printing System (AFIS), the Live Scan fingerprinting system and the national photographic system to allow for fingerprint or "mug shot" verification;
* Installing an integrated justice system (IJS) business intelligence and management information system - a data warehouse - to generate useable statistics;
* Establishing a "transversal hub" to act as a conduit between Home Affairs, the police, courts, prisons and social development department; and
* Automating the police docket system and electronically capturing the data they contain.

Question of credibility

The lack of interoperability in systems between departments, as well as a reliance on paper, has long been the bane of the CJS. Missing, misplaced and lost files lead to criminals walking free and public doubt being cast on the administration of justice.

Mabandla said there are some constraints in the process. Using E-Scheduler as an example, she noted that the roll-out of the system to the country's courts "is dependent on the sites that are connected by the department's IT systems (the so-called digital nervous system)".

Thirteen courts still require connectivity, including six that "are under construction" and two that "do not have Telkom infrastructure". She added that 459 courts now have E-Scheduler in service. Magistrates and prosecutors use it to manage the court rolls, generate reliable statistics and provide early warning of problems and low productivity.

Saving time

Mabandla said 145 courts are already connected to the JDAS accounting system. This will keep real-time track of trust money, bail bonds and maintenance, thereby saving people fruitless trips to the courts, she noted.

There are plans to connect 40 courts and 22 jails by CCTV so that awaiting trial detainees need not be driven to-and-fro "merely to have their cases postponed either for further investigation or legal aid representation". She added: "These postponements rarely take more than just a few minutes.

"The concept is operational in Durban and Pinetown Magistrates Courts which are linked to the Westville Correctional Centre. More than 5 000 detainees have appeared in court utilising the concept."