The Northern Ireland Court Service was established in 1979 by the Judicature (Northern Ireland) Act 1978. Providing support to the administration of justice in Northern Ireland, it employs some 690 staff across court venues throughout Northern Ireland and at its Headquarters building located in Belfast city centre.
The Director of the Court Service, who reports directly to the Lord Chancellor, is the Head of the Department, Principal Accounting Officer and Accountant General of the Supreme Court of Judicature of Northern Ireland. In running the department he is supported by a Management Board comprising four Directors, each of whom has responsibility for a specific division.
"By working together in support of the administration of justice,
we will be the best at everything we do."
Corporate Vision
Our aims are:
To fulfil our aims, we have seven strategic objectives:
Fuller details of our purpose and objectives are contained in our Corporate Plan, available on our website at www.courtsni.gov.uk.
The Court Service published its Service Delivery Agreement in November 2000, as required under the 2000 Spending Review. In this document we set ourselves a number of challenging targets to improve the quality of the services that we provide. We must achieve these targets in full by 31 March 2004, and our current progress is detailed below.
To implement the agreed recommendations of the reviews of civil and criminal justice in Northern Ireland.
Government legislation and an implementation plan for the recommendations of the Criminal Justice Review were issued in November 2001. Other major areas of work undertaken include the Proceeds of Crime Bill, Anti-terrorism legislation and Family Law legislation. Work is also ongoing on the recommendations from the Civil Justice Reform group.
To deliver the programme of Legal Aid reform approved by the Lord Chancellor.
We are working towards the publication of an Access to Justice Order in Council in spring 2002. A Project Board has been established to oversee the implementation of this programme of reform.
To improve by 5 per cent the efficiency of services provided to users of civil and family courts.
We have made significant progress in both areas. We have already achieved our target of a 5 per cent improvement in Family Courts' efficiency. We have also achieved a 3 per cent increase in efficiency in civil courts, and work is on-going to improve this further.
To achieve a 10 per cent improvement in the proportion of indictable cases meeting 2001-02 targets for case disposal.
The processing of Crown Court defendants from committal to arraignment is on schedule. We are now concentrating on reducing the time taken between arraignment and hearing.
To improve by 10 per cent the proportion of appeals to the Court of Appeal against sentence being given a hearing date within three weeks from lodgement of documents.
Our progress has been excellent; 91 per cent of appeals against sentence are given a hearing date within three weeks.
To improve by 5 per cent the time taken for the disposal of summary cases, and by 3 per cent the time taken for the disposal of youth cases.
We have made excellent progress in the disposal of summary cases and have already achieved our 5 per cent target. We are now concentrating on our target for youth cases. A review of youth court business, scheduled for 2002, should assist with identifying opportunities for improvement.
To increase by 10 per cent the proportion of accepted cases dealt with within two years by the Enforcement of Judgments Office.
We have already achieved an 8 per cent increase. A new computer system has been installed and this will assist in the efficiency of case management.
To reduce the incidence of payment of fraudulent claims for Legal Aid.
We have developed a counter-fraud strategy and the Legal Aid Department of the Law Society has appointed a Fraud Investigation Officer. The percentage of Legal Aid cases investigated for fraud will be increased by 5 per cent by March 2004.
The Fraud Investigation Unit within the Legal Aid Department has initiated several investigations within recent months.
To improve by 10 per cent the efficiency of the estate maintenance programme.
2001-02 is the first year of the new Maintenance Contract. Actual savings will be measured at the end of this financial year.
To achieve Charter Mark status for 50 per cent of all courthouses.
At present, over 54 per cent of the business areas within the Service have signed up to achieve this quality standard for customer services. All business areas have registered with the Charter Mark Agency and work is underway in respect of benchmarking processes with other local government agencies and courts in England.
To implement an Integrated Court Operations System.
The Integrated Court Operations System (ICOS) is under development in association with our IT Strategic Partner. The target date for complete implementation of this system is June 2004. The implementation and utilisation of this system will allow targeted savings to be identified for the SR2002 period.
We are working to deliver a programme of modernisation, in line with central government reform programmes, to improve our service to the public.
The most significant policies that we have brought forward relate to the implementation of the Civil Justice Reform report, Legal Aid reform and the Government's response to the Criminal Justice Review report. We have also worked closely with other departments on policies which they are bringing forward in connection with criminal, civil and family justice.
We have made progress in implementing the recommendations of the Civil Justice Reform Group report. That group comprised representatives of those in Northern Ireland with an interest in the civil justice system. The approach taken to this exercise has been cited as a case study in the Cabinet Office publication Better Policy Making (November 2001). Now that we are implementing the Group's recommendations, we are seeking to be as inclusive as possible by consulting on detail and time-scale. Where appropriate, we will test recommendations in pilot schemes, and by learning from experiences in England and Wales, before we implement fully in this jurisdiction.
The Court Service is heavily involved in bringing forward the Government's response to the Criminal Justice Review report as it impacts on the courts and judiciary in Northern Ireland. This has involved working with the Northern Ireland Office in the publication of an Implementation Plan and Justice Bill. Work on this is ongoing.
The Lord Chancellor has published his decisions paper, The Way Ahead, which sets out the Legal Aid reform programme for Northern Ireland. The reforms outlined in the decisions paper will be delivered through a Northern Ireland Order in Council. We are working on the drafting of the Order which will be published in spring 2002.
We must make sure that our policies are inclusive and take account of the needs and experience of all those likely to be affected. A key element of the policy process in Northern Ireland is section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998. This requires a public authority, in carrying out its functions, to have due regard to promoting equality of opportunity and to promoting good relations between different groups. This is achieved by screening policies to determine their likely impact on different groups in society. Where there appears to be an issue, then the policy is subject to a full equality impact assessment.
We are committed to delivering the highest standard of public services. To ensure that the public is fully involved in the development of our services, we:
In addition to this, we have:
We have taken a lead role in the development of the 'legal quarter' concept in the centre of Belfast. Laganside Courts, a new 16 Court Complex became operational in January 2002. It is the latest landmark building in Belfast City Centre.
A further new court building, which will make full use of modern technologies, is currently under construction in Dungannon, County Tyrone, and is due for completion in 2002.
We have undertaken a public consultation exercise on our Court Accommodation Strategy 2001-10 to ensure high-quality accommodation at all court venues. The strategy document, together with the results of the consultation exercise (when completed), is available on our website at www.courtsni.gov.uk.
We are committed to the Better Quality Services initiative which assures the public that good use is being made of government funding. In 1999 we entered into our first Public Private Partnership agreement with ICL for the provision of Information Systems and Information Technology services. During 2001, we signed two other similar contracts. Serco Services was awarded the contract for estate maintenance, estimated to be worth around £1 million each year. A locally based company, Maybin Security, was awarded the contract for courtroom security.
We have established a dedicated Diversity Unit to implement those aspects of the Modernising Programme with a diversity focus. Working to a specifically developed strategy and action plan, we started with developing a comprehensive training programme for all managers on managing inclusion, and we developed an information pack to support this training. We are also developing a programme of work experience for children from ethnic minorities and a Code of Practice on the employment of people with disabilities. We will continue with implementation for 2002 in line with the timetable in the Equality Scheme.
The Court Service, in conjunction with a private sector partner, has embarked upon a programme of modernisation through technology - in line with the central government targets for electronic service delivery. Our intranet is now fully operational to allow for electronic delivery of all internal mail. We recently began work to develop our internet website to support this reform programme.
Targets
Twenty-five per cent of bail and remand hearings in respect of young offenders to be conducted by live video-link.
We are installing facilities at all court venues.
A 100 per cent take-up rate for the use of e-forms in the checking of statements of means with the Social Security Agency.
We have achieved this target and all links are now in place.
A 100 per cent take-up rate for the electronic interface between the Fixed Penalty Office and the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency for the notification of penalty points.
We have achieved this target and all links are now in place.
A 25 per cent take-up rate between the department, the Social Services Agency and the Guardian Ad Litem Agency for information exchange through intranet and internet facilities.
We are planning a pilot exercise for March 2002.
A 25 per cent take-up rate for a fee-payment system to the Enforcement of Judgments Office which allows customers to pay via the telephone and using Switch and Banks Automated Clearance Systems (BACS).
We will begin work in the next financial year to support the achievement of this target.
All of our work towards these targets, together with the development of electronic business throughout the organisation, moves us towards our target of reducing paper flow within the organisation by 50 per cent by 2004.
We will continue to work on all of the targets outlined above. We will publish a new Corporate Plan for the period 2002-05 early in the new financial year, and this will focus on the key challenges in working towards our desired business improvements. Participating in the 2002 Spending Review, we will produce an accompanying Service Delivery Agreement that will detail our objectives for improvements in the Service over the period 2002-06.
The Criminal Justice Review recommended the creation, on devolution, of a Department of Justice, bringing together all justice functions other than the prosecution, Law Commission and judicial matters. It is expected that we will become part of the proposed new Department, and the Justice (NI) Bill will confer a power on the Lord Chancellor to provide for the transfer of our functions.
The Government has indicated that its target is to devolve justice functions after May 2003, and we will be working with other key stakeholders towards establishing a Department of Justice.
The Civil Justice Reform Group reported to the Lord Chancellor in June 2000. One of our objectives is to bring into effect, by September 2003, the recommendations agreed by the Lord Chancellor.
We will continue to develop our Integrated Court Operations System (ICOS) which, when fully deployed in 2004, will provide a state-of-the-art system capable of providing modern and efficient services to all court users.
We will be taking the lead in the establishment of the Judicial Appointments Commission. This new body will assume responsibility for making recommendations to the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister on all judicial and tribunal appointments for which the Lord Chancellor currently has responsibility.
New legislation which is currently being drafted for publication, will allow in the spring of 2002 for a new non-departmental public body to be established, the Legal Services Commission for Northern Ireland. Responsibility for the administration of all aspects of publicly-funded legal services will be transferred from the Law Society to the new Commission.
Senior Civil Service staff at 1 April 2001
| Salary band | No. of staff |
|---|---|
| £40,000-£44,999 | 1 |
| £50,000-£54,999 | 2 |
| £60,000-£64,999 | 1 |
| £80,000-£84,999 | 1 |
Court Service staff are recruited to Senior Civil Service posts, administrative officer (Level 4) and support grade levels and to posts requiring professional qualifications.
The Court Service recruitment practices comply with the Civil Service Commissioners' Recruitment Code and none of the permitted exceptions to the principles of fair and open competition are used. All recruitment schemes are monitored in accordance with the Equality Legislation.
During 2000-01, a number of judicial appointments were made. These included the appointment of a High Court Judge, a Resident Magistrate and a High Court Master and a County Court Judge. A further two part-time appointments in respect of a Deputy County Court Judge and a Deputy Coroner were also made. Five tribunal appointments were made and two additional Coroner posts were created on fixed-term appointments for two years.
| 1998-99 (Outturn) |
1999-00 (Outturn) |
2000-01 (Outturn) |
2001-02 (Estimated Outturn) |
2002-03 (Plans) |
£ thousand 2003-04 (Plans) |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Consumption of resources: Courts, other legal services and legal aid |
47,993 | 67,376 | 75,540 | 85,749 | 100,600 | 100,500 |
| Total Northern Ireland Court Service Budget of which: |
47,993 | 67,376 | 75,540 | 85,749 | 100,600 | 100,500 |
| Northern Ireland Court Service resource Departmental Expenditure Limit (DEL) | 47,467 | 57,496 | 64,707 | 73,249 | 87,200 | 85,700 |
| Non-cash items in AME of which: |
526 | 9,880 | 10,833 | 12,500 | 13,400 | 14,800 |
| Depreciation | - | 3,624 | 3,838 | 4,500 | 5,900 | 6,100 |
| Cost of capital charges | - | 6,174 | 6,359 | 7,300 | 7,500 | 8,700 |
| Changes in provisions and other charges | 526 | 82 | 636 | 700 | ||
| Capital expenditure Courts, other legal services and legal aid |
4,635 | 1,889 | 2,569 | 10,500 | 6,000 | 6,000 |
| Total Northern Ireland Court Service Capital Budget of which: |
4,635 | 1,889 | 2,569 | 10,500 | 6,000 | 6,000 |
| Northern Ireland Court Service capital Departmental Expenditure Limit (DEL) | 4,635 | 1,889 | 2,569 | 10,500 | 6,000 | 6,000 |
| Total public spending by Northern Ireland Court Service | 52,628 | 65,641 | 74,271 | 91,749 | 100,700 | 100,400 |
|
||||||
| 1998-99 (Outturn) |
1999-00 (Outturn) |
2000-01 (Outturn) |
2001-02 (Estimated Outturn) |
2002-03 (Plans) |
£ thousand 2003-04 (Plans) |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gross administration costs: Paybill | 13,146 | 13,495 | 14,092 | 16,600 | ||
| Other | 6,517 | 19,368 | 22,161 | 25,963 | ||
| Total gross administration costs | 19,663 | 32,863 | 36,253 | 42,563 | 55,700 | 56,900 |
| Related administration cost receipts | -13,045 | -11,248 | -13,554 | -12,442 | -10,942 | -10,942 |
| Total net administration costs of which: |
6,618 | 21,615 | 22,699 | 30,121 | 44,758 | 45,958 |
| Departmental Expenditure Limit (DEL) | 6,092 | 11,735 | 11,866 | 17,621 | 31,358 | 31,158 |
| Non-cash AME | 526 | 9,880 | 10,833 | 12,500 | 13,400 | 14,800 |
| Total net administration costs by activity: Courts and other legal services |
6,618 | 21,615 | 22,699 | 30,121 | 44,758 | 45,958 |
| Total net administration costs | 6,618 | 21,615 | 22,699 | 30,121 | 44,758 | 45,958 |
| Controls and limits: Administration costs limits for gross controlled areas: Courts and other legal services |
18,669 | 22,663 | 25,227 | 29,763 | 42,000 | |
| Total administration costs limits for gross controlled areas | 18,669 | 22,663 | 25,227 | 29,763 | 42,000 |
| 1998-99 (Outturn) |
1999-00 (Outturn) |
2000-01 (Outturn) |
2001-02 (Estimated Outturn) |
2002-03 (Plans) |
£ thousand 2003-04 (Plans) |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assets on balance sheet at end of year: Tangible fixed assets of which: |
105,518 | 105,107 | 111,745 | 121,490 | 132,324 | 139,862 |
| Land & buildings | 105,198 | 105,092 | 111,236 | 118,240 | 125,862 | 135,645 |
| Plant & machinery | 320 | 15 | 509 | 3,250 | 6,462 | 4,217 |
| Vehicles | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Current assets | 4,277 | 6,050 | 8,138 | 5,376 | 2,808 | 3,151 |
| Creditors (<1 year) | -6,232 | -8,577 | -10,020 | -10,242 | -10,507 | -10,906 |
| Creditors (>1 year) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Provisions | -701 | -384 | -817 | -894 | -803 | -748 |
| Capital employed within main department | 102,862 | 102,196 | 109,046 | 115,730 | 123,822 | 131,359 |
| NDPB net assets | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2,625 | 3,290 |
| Total capital employed in departmental group | 102,862 | 102,196 | 109,046 | 115,730 | 126,447 | 134,649 |