Improvement of the Electronic Court Register Information System

„Improvement of the Electronic Court Register Information System (ECRIS)” – Opening seminar „Improvement of the Electronic Court Register Information System (ECRIS)” Opening seminar Changes - ICT and judicial case management Simone Ginzburg 8 June 2015, Bucharest

„Improvement of the Electronic Court Register Information System (ECRIS)” – Opening seminar Short overview - Alternative ICT answers to procedural needs - Communication with parties - Support to magistrates - Statistics and Case management - Conclusion

„Improvement of the Electronic Court Register Information System (ECRIS)” – Opening seminar Information and Communication Technology Sealing a court document 1/2 England & Wales: Civil Rules and Practice Directions 1998

„Improvement of the Electronic Court Register Information System (ECRIS)” – Opening seminar Information and Communication Technology Sealing a court document 2/2 Much more reliable and difficult to falsify: QR code But: It requires that all documents created are stored and made available via the web Policy choice! Technological environment!

„Improvement of the Electronic Court Register Information System (ECRIS)” – Opening seminar Information and Communication Technology Preparing court documents for dispatch 1/2 Judiciary internal communication network

„Improvement of the Electronic Court Register Information System (ECRIS)” – Opening seminar Information and Communication Technology Preparing court documents for dispatch 2/2 • Unique bulk center for small claims cases for all England & Wales: Money Claims on Line – MCOL • COVL - Central department for direct enforcement in the local court in Ljubljana (Slovenia): 350 court employees and judges in 44 courts 4 judges and 62 support • Unique dispatch center for all judiciary (Austria) • Outsource dispatch: hybrid post (Slovenia) ble by i s s o p Made l the sea ! change Web-based systems can be specially flexible: dispatching tasks can be canalized to one person, one department, one court, one region. . .

„Improvement of the Electronic Court Register Information System (ECRIS)” – Opening seminar Service of judicial documents Two-ways information flow: Document, with proof of authenticity Proof of service to the addressee (or of conditions to deem it served) e-service : electronic service of documents to parties and/or participants to judicial proceedings, which replaces the serving of paper documents. Comparison with paper service: faster security of transmission integrity of the message ensure 100% identity of sender ensure 100% reception by the addressee cheaper … It allows/imposes to reorganize work-flows and routines at both ends

„Improvement of the Electronic Court Register Information System (ECRIS)” – Opening seminar e-Service via electronic portal 1/2 e-Curia (Court of Justice of the EU) After authentication: 1. List of newly available documents After acceptance via button: 2. Possibility to download

„Improvement of the Electronic Court Register Information System (ECRIS)” – Opening seminar e-Service via electronic portal 2/2 Lexnet (Spain) - special mention at the 2012 edition of the CEPEJ/EU «Crystal Scales of Justice» award 1. Authentication for lawyers via Smart. Card (electronic signature certificate) 2. Acceptance Similar approach: TéléRécours, administrative courts in France, Citius (Portugal) Uyap (Turkey)

„Improvement of the Electronic Court Register Information System (ECRIS)” – Opening seminar e-Service via documents transfer Italy, Trial on Line (Processo Civile Telematico) Austria, ERV Similar approach: Slovenia e-Sodstvo

„Improvement of the Electronic Court Register Information System (ECRIS)” – Opening seminar e-Service: savings and costs Estimation of savings - Cost of registered mail x number of e-summons sent Example: Italy Mo. J estimation (Feb 2014): 46 mil € per year (7€ x 12 mil x 0, 5) Hidden costs - Software development and maintenance, licenses, hardware, training [not only e-service related] Further savings - Decreased dispatch staff - Physical storage: rooms, shelves, … - No need to check the regularity of service - Decrease of irregular services Risk of failure Phenix (Belgium and Unisys, 2003 -2007) 28 mil € lost!

„Improvement of the Electronic Court Register Information System (ECRIS)” – Opening seminar Consultation of e-Files via e-portal Not legally valid service, but case(s) documents are available and can be downloaded by the parties after authentication: - Italy Polis. Web - Bi. H CMS

„Improvement of the Electronic Court Register Information System (ECRIS)” – Opening seminar Documents intake E-filing : electronic filing of documents by parties and/or participants to judicial proceedings which replaces the filing of paper documents. The first natural field of application is « IT for title » Scanning of incoming documents : Goals: - Decrease the movement of case files within the Court/office - Aim towards a complete e-file

„Improvement of the Electronic Court Register Information System (ECRIS)” – Opening seminar Added value of e-communication • Bulk e-filing /processing of repetitive cases (IT for Title) • Submissions can be validated before e-filing, avoiding errors and delays • Document + structured data, useful for automatic processing [more important for Courts, keeping the e-file updated] XML data attached [I To. L: envelope] or XML only [Bi. H SOKOP] • Integration with registers, key for efficiency [Finland, Slovenia, Austria] • Reliable statistical data based on machine to machine interactions (avoiding risk of opportunistic behaviours) • Possibility to search and copy text PDF with bookmarks for single documents [England & Wales] But: important to take into account the possible needs of printing e-filed documents!

„Improvement of the Electronic Court Register Information System (ECRIS)” – Opening seminar Organizational changes in the work processes Bi. H new case numbering system in the prosecutors’ offices 58 0 Court/PO identificator K 001256 Year of case initiation Case type/phase Court/PO Department identificator 15 Ps Case number T 06 0 KT 0001256 13 New organization of work processes in the prosecutors‘ offices in the automated environment 15

„Improvement of the Electronic Court Register Information System (ECRIS)” – Opening seminar Transition to e-filing • Graduality and modularity; provide added value to users: Ø Start with online consultation of documents Ø E-filing for simple and repetitive cases Ø Home-printing of Bar-code & Upload as transition (Italy To. L previous phase, Bi. H CMS for Prosecutors) • Organisational, Technical and Legislative changes to be conceived and implemented together CEPEJ - SCHEME FOR EVALUATING JUDICIAL SYSTEMS (2010 -2012 CYCLE): “The nature of ICT and its action is not just technical, but also organisational and (especially in judiciaries), normative. In order to perform, a technology must not just be technically functional, but also normatively performative and institutionally sound. ” • Obligatoriness: the last step

„Improvement of the Electronic Court Register Information System (ECRIS)” – Opening seminar Integrated Criminal Justice Chain • Automatic document exchange between courts and prosecutors’ offices BAR CODE 17

„Improvement of the Electronic Court Register Information System (ECRIS)” – Opening seminar Different degrees of automation Civil justice: IT for title and IT for judgments [Dory Reiling]

„Improvement of the Electronic Court Register Information System (ECRIS)” – Opening seminar IT for judgments: case management support First observation: A CMS makes unnecessary to review case-files periodically, allowing instead for tasks and alerts. Second observation: Redistribution of tasks within courts to allow judges to concentrate on their core judicial tasks is an important goal in itself, apart from the cost savings that may be reached this way. European Network of Councils for the Judiciary, 2012 Report Thirds observation: There is a risk that CMS transform magistrates in clicking machines.

„Improvement of the Electronic Court Register Information System (ECRIS)” – Opening seminar Redistribution of tasks: Subsidiarity principle 1. Whatever machines can do, let them do it. 2. If the machine cannot do it alone, let administrative staff help. 3. What administrative staff can’t do, leave to legal clerks. 4. Only if the clerk cannot do it – then call the judge*. But don’t leave him alone! * Or Prosecutor

„Improvement of the Electronic Court Register Information System (ECRIS)” – Opening seminar IT for judgements - examples from SOKOP Bi. H Assist the judge asking only for approval/overriding: Suggesting actions to be taken and propose text based on any document (and its metadata) and information in the case-file Break the walls of the case-file: Possibility of group review Possibility of group creation of documents, actions – default values Adaptive Case Management LOVISA (Norway)

„Improvement of the Electronic Court Register Information System (ECRIS)” – Opening seminar Full cases management / indicators and alerts The length of judicial proceedings should be monitored through an integral and well-defined system of collection of information. Such a system should be able to promptly provide both the detailed statistical data on the length of proceedings at the general level, and identify individual instances at the origin of excessive and unreasonable length. CEPEJ - SATURN GUIDELINES FOR JUDICIAL TIME MANAGEMENT (2008) case milestones – per case type alerts foreseeable/optimum timeframes

„Improvement of the Electronic Court Register Information System (ECRIS)” – Opening seminar CMS for management Necessa pre-con ry dition: Statistic al reliabili ty Make sure that work process can flow only using the system Use documents and metadata, rather than ask users to categorise Make sure they are entered, with the minimum error, at the earliest convenient point Rewards for the users: less work, now or later, if data are entered Monitor work results exclusively through the system

„Improvement of the Electronic Court Register Information System (ECRIS)” – Opening seminar Interoperability Citizens and business records Addresses Death/Cancellation Litispendentia, criminal records, . . . Financial data E-payment is nice to have, but import of all payments is more important: - Statistics on the revenues of the justice system - Monitor collection of fees, costs and fines --> Austria: fees automatic collection from lawyers

„Improvement of the Electronic Court Register Information System (ECRIS)” – Opening seminar As a conclusion: suggested approach • Plan since the inception for two-way electronic communications, structured data transmission, interoperability, bulk processing • Develop gradually, involve all stakeholders and coordinate technical, organisational and legal changes • State clearly the goals for each phase and ensure they are shared as much as possible by all stakeholders – both internal and external to the judiciary • Ensure harmonization of the legal framework: principles in the law as general as possible, leaving the technical definition to bylaws and regulations • Test organisational changes in piloting environment

„Improvement of the Electronic Court Register Information System (ECRIS)” – Opening seminar T h a n k y o u f o r y o u r a t t e n t i o n ! Q U E S T I O N S ? D I S C U S S I O N S ?