PJDP Newsletters
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SUPREME COURT OF TONGA - CASE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
SUPREME COURT OF TONGA - CASE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
A challenge faced by many courts around the world is the management of caseload in pending criminal and civil procedures and the time taken for them to come to trial. The Supreme Court of Tonga provides a helpful example of a Pacific jurisdiction that has embarked on a process to address this challenge. Below is a summary of the process undertaken by the Court to improve efficiencies in its case management system which has led to the Court being named the World's Top Reformer globally as measured by the World Bank's Enforcing Contracts - Doing Business indicators. Tonga climbed 26 places to 58th best in the world! It is hoped that the information about the process below will be helpful to other Pacific islands interested in making similar progression. For further and more detailed information about this work, please contact Program Coordinator Helen Burrows.
1. Conduct an audit of current cases
- An audit of files was conducted and recorded on a multi-functional excel spreadsheet designed by the Supreme Court of Tonga and Federal Court of Australia:
File Audit Tonga
Instructions for using the Audit Document
- The spreadsheet was developed to facilitate the introduction of a tool to enable the registry to produce letters to multiple parties and files of proposed callovers, listing notices, orders and general correspondence through a single mail merge process.
Microsoft Excel Basics
- Development of the mail merge system linked to the audit spreadsheet that would access pre-defined templates to easily produce automatically, general correspondence, listing notices and orders for multiple files within one process. This new function eliminates the need to manually create similar documents for each file.
Using Mail Merge Functionality
- Training court staff to conduct audits and use recording documents, including the development of a training manual.
2. Enhancing registry management
- Developing a system for producing regular, accurate reports on the Court's workload and the number and age of pending cases.
- Setting performance measures to help the Court to assess how it is going and to manage the expectations of government, lawyers, litigants and the broader community about the disposition of cases.
- Revising the Court's rules and strengthening the skills and expertise of registry staff and the local legal profession.
3. Building the case management system
- Development of a pro forma document and worksheet to consistently record case data:
Individual Docket Allocation
SC Case Management System
- Introduction of a simple streamlined procedure for dealing with small civil claims.
- Development of template documents to streamline preparation and improve accuracy of orders.
Order in the Supreme Court of Tonga Civil Jurisdiction
- Templates were structured in a format so the document produced could merge any information from any column of each jurisdictional spreadsheet.
Creating Templates
- Templates were created to produce notices of future listing call-overs, orders and any general notice and can be amended where the templates are used to merge new fields or add any free text.
- Training was provided to registry staff on case-management procedures and the importance of strict record keeping processing.
- A secure file room and computers were installed to improve security and efficiency of record-keeping.
- A case management team was created with more staff adopting case management responsibilities. The Supreme Court assigned a case management coordinator to lead the team and be responsible for the case management system.
4. How to monitor the system
- A workload register was established to clearly allocate work for staff making inputs into the case management system and prevent duplication;
- The case management coordinator reports periodically to the Chief Justice to establish relevant dates, future listings and the nature of each matter
- Updating of the Court's registers to reflect information obtained through the audit.
5. Further Recommendations
A data collection system was developed to address the lack of proper mechanisms to collect, analyse and report on data. A system of monthly reports which might include such information as:
- the number of cases pending at the end of the previous month; the number of cases commenced during the month
- the number of cases finalised during the month; the number of cases pending at the end of the month
- the number of pending cases that have been in the Court for 0 to 12 months, 12 to 24 months and over 24 months (or such other periods as the Court considers useful).
A Re-Submit System was developed so no current files can be put away unless a date is set for re-examination. In most cases this date would be determined by reference to the date the case is next before the Court. Where there is no future listing, the registry should set a date on which the file must be 'resubmitted'. In the absence of an effective computerised register, the resubmit system may be implemented using a diary in which the number and title of a file is recorded against the relevant resubmission date for the file. The computer registers could also be revised to provide for the recording of a resubmission date with a list of cases generated using the 'search' or 'sort' functions.
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