For discussion FCR(96-97)84
on 13 December 1996

ITEM FOR FINANCE COMMITTEE

CAPITAL WORKS RESERVE FUND
HEAD 710 - COMPUTERISATION
Judiciary
New Subhead "Implementation of Judiciary Information Systems Strategy
Phase II"

Members are invited to approve a commitment of $62,095,000 for the implementation of Phase II of the Judiciary Information Systems Strategy.

---

PROBLEM
PROPOSAL
JUSTIFICATION

Benefits
Cost-benefit Analysis
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

Implementation Plan
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Original Scope of Judiciary Information Systems Strategy -- Objectives of Individual Phases
Judiciary Information Systems Strategy - Major Projects in Each Phase
Summary of the key component systems of Judiciary Information Systems Strategy (Phase II)
Expected Improvements in Service upon Implementation of the Judiciary Information Systems Strategy Phase II
Cost Benefit Analysis of the proposed Judiciary Information Systems Strategy Plan (Phase II) (at 1996-97 prices)

---

PROBLEM

The Judiciary has made comparatively little use of information technology in the High Court, Court of Appeal and Family Court, all of which are accommodated in the Supreme Court Building. This has inhibited its efficiency and productivity, and reduced its ability to deal with the increased volume and complexity of work.

PROPOSAL

2. The Judiciary Administrator (JA), with the support of the Director of Information Technology Services (DITS), proposes to implement Phase II of the Judiciary Information System Strategy (JISS) which consists of the following components -

1. Case Management and Listing for High Court, Court of Appeal and Family Court;
2. Jury Management;
3. Bailiff Services Management;
4. Interpreter Service Management;
5. Personnel Management;
6. Electronic Legal Reference Database; and
7. Office Automation.

JUSTIFICATION

3. JISS is a three-phased information technology development programme for the Judiciary with the aims of maximising management efficiency and enhancing the standard of service to the public. The original scope of Phases I to III is at Enclosure 1. Phase I was approved by Members on 10 June 1994. Following the full implementation of Phase I in November 1995, which has greatly enhanced the operations of the District Court, the Small Claims Tribunal and the Probate Registry, we propose to implement Phase II with the following modifications to its original scope to meet operational needs -

1. deferring automation of the Labour Tribunal to Phase III to allow time to finalise a review of its operations;
2. extending electronic access to legal reference to all judicial personnel within the Judiciary;
3. advancing Jury management to Phase II as the existing computer system is close to capacity; and
4. including automation of operational and human resources management.

Details of the key component systems for Phase II are at Enclosure 2. We set out the major improvements in the following paragraphs.

4 . Co-ordination and Monitoring. The smooth operation of the courts relies on an effective and efficient mechanism to monitor case progress and co-ordinate court support services. The existing manual system in the Supreme Court Building provides no overall monitoring and control. Currently, information circulation is slow, error-prone, and often not enough for good decision making. This has resulted in mis-communication, confusion, errors and even adjournments of hearings. Such incidents not only waste court time and cause inconvenience to the public and the legal profession, but also seriously damage the image of the Judiciary. In JISS Phase II we will adopt an integrated approach to case management by maintaining in a central database both the case progress and information on the requirement of physical and human resources for each case i.e. courtroom, judge, jurors, and court support staff such as interpreters and bailiffs. This central database would then enable the Judiciary to monitor any changes in case status or resource availability in an integrated manner, and to immediately notify such changes to the appropriate parties so that they may take action to avoid wasting court time and resources.

5. Listing. In JISS Phase I, we introduced the computer assisted listing system at the District Court. It is a valuable tool in the tracking of court availability, the monitoring of case readiness, and the compilation of the daily cause lists. It also provides useful management information to assist with operational planning for the courts. We will introduce a similar computer assisted listing system to the High Court, Court of Appeal and Family Court and enhance the system to support cross checking with the lower court’s diaries during the scheduling of hearings. The system can detect any conflict or cross booking for the same case or same party and notify the listing officers to effect the necessary re-scheduling.

6. Document Submission. Currently, the Judiciary dedicates each counter at the Supreme Court Registry to the filing and processing of specific types of document or action. This has resulted in prolonged queuing times and inefficient use of manpower. We will install a multi-functional workstation at each counter, which will share new electronic cause books and registers to provide ‘one-stop shop services’ to court users. Customers need only queue once to submit applications/documents for filing. We expect to reduce the queuing time from 30 minutes to 15 minutes during peak hours.

7. Public Enquiries. The Judiciary arranges information in the existing manual cause books and registers by case number sequence only. Searching through these cause books and registers is difficult and time consuming if the case number is not known. We will provide workstations at both the Supreme Court Registry and the Family Court Registry to facilitate public search using new electronic cause books and registers. In addition to case number, customers can also use the party’s name, in either English or Chinese, in their search. We expect to reduce searching time markedly from the existing average of one hour to less than 5 minutes. We will reduce the waiting time to obtain a sealed copy of a recent Decree Absolute or Decree Nisi from 30 minutes to three minutes as we will be able to generate these documents automatically by the system.

8. Information Flow. We will enhance all existing networks and integrate them into a Judiciary-wide network that connects all Judiciary premises to improve the information flow. Typical examples are -

1. At present it might require up to one day for incoming documents at the registries to reach the judges’ clerks. The new system would make available to the judges’ clerks all essential document information immediately upon their entry at the registries. For any urgent document received at the registries, the system will immediately send a message to alert the judge’s clerk.
2. Currently the Judiciary takes about ten days to notify the Bailiff’s Office, Accounts Office and registries of the Courts’ decisions on bankruptcy and company winding up cases. This lengthy process caused several incidents of errors in releasing money to the wrong parties and necessitated the taking of protracted procedures by the Official Receiver to recover the money. With computerisation, the Judiciary can make available decisions on such matters immediately to all concerned parties.
3. Under the new system, the Judiciary can link bail applications initiated as High Court Miscellaneous Proceeding cases to the original case records, making the results immediately available to all concerned parties. Similarly, the Judiciary can immediately pass appeal results to the original case records system maintained at the lower courts.
4. Under the new system, the Judiciary will be able to notify the Correctional Services Department of body order requirements two to three days earlier to aid the transfer of prisoners to court.
5. The system will automatically generate memoranda, notices and ex-parte application results and fax them to the Attorney General’s Chambers, the Legal Aid Department, and to solicitor firms.

9. Human Resources Management. We need to create a personnel information database that contains basic personal particulars, skill and experience profiles, training records, leave records and posting history for all Judiciary staff. In addition to the automation of record management at the Personnel Registry, the system will assist heads of grades in planning staff development, training and staff movements. The system will also automatically reflect approved leave applications in the respective officer’s electronic diary to eliminate the existing problem of inconsistencies found in the manual diaries. The system will also provide a more effective means of staff deployment . Examples are -

(a) Court Interpreters

Whenever there are requests for special language/dialect skills, the system will scan the skill profiles and diaries of the existing interpreters to identify suitable candidates for deployment before searching for freelance interpreters. As for the hire of freelance interpreters, the system automatically identifies a list of suitable candidates for selection by the Interpreter’s Office.

(b) Bailiffs

The system will sort summonses/writs according to the ‘district’ and ‘hearing date’ sequence to facilitate the work of the bailiffs. This system will also keep track of execution progress and assist bailiffs with the calculation of execution fees.

10. Jury. The Judiciary will enlarge the potential juror database to handle an increase in the number of potential jurors. The system will also enable random selection of jurors based on their language proficiency.

11. Legal Reference. The Judiciary will maintain an up-to-date electronic legal reference database to assist judges in research. The Judiciary will also be able to make judgements available to all judges and judicial officers within three days, instead of the existing lead time of up to seven or eight weeks for the lower courts. The Judiciary will install workstations with powerful full text search capabilities at the Supreme Court Library to replace the existing practice of using index cards, which only supports the use of case number in the search. We will acquire electronic publications of major legal reference material and make them available to all judges and judicial officers via the communications network.

Benefits

12. Overall, the proposal will improve the operational efficiency of the Judiciary and its services to the public. A summary of the efficiency improvements that we are able to quantify at this stage is at Enclosure 3.

13. One of the objectives of JISS Phase II is to introduce an effective co-ordination and monitoring mechanism that ensures smooth court operations and avoids any unnecessary adjournment of hearings. We anticipate that overall savings should be substantial considering the saving of court time and resources and the corresponding savings in the Attorney General’s Chambers, the Legal Aid Department, the law enforcement departments, as well as for the public who serve as witnesses and jurors.

14. Realisable staff cost savings of $4,948,000 will arise from the deletion of 17 departmental/clerical grade posts. Notional staff cost savings at $9,396,000 annually is the aggregate of task savings across 296 posts in the Judiciary. These notional savings come from the elimination of repeated transcription of case information, replacement of typing work by the automatic generation of documents, information retrieval improvements, better file tracking, and automatic generation of statistics.

15. The new system will also achieve staff cost avoidance amounting to $9,154,000 per annum, which we would otherwise require for the -

1. provision of bilingual support to the existing juror management system, cause books, registers and court documents, which we anticipate with the greater use of Chinese at the High Court;
2. generation of additional management information to assist with the development of judicial changes and administration planning and control; and
3. proper keeping of the manual cause books, registers and file movement logs.

Cost-benefit Analysis

16. A cost-benefit analysis of JISS Phase II is at Enclosure 4. Taking the realisable and notional staff cost savings, together with staff cost avoidance, the break-even point for the investment shall occur in the fifth year after implementation.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

17. We estimate that the total non-recurrent cost for implementing the JISS Phase II will be $74,168,000. The cost breakdowns are as follows -

18. As regards paragraph 17(a) above, the expenditure of $23,494,000 is for the acquisition of computer hardware and system software.

19. As regards paragraph 17(b) above, the expenditure of $5,960,000 is for the establishment of a Judiciary-wide network that connects 14 Judiciary premises.

20. As regards paragraph 17(c) above, the expenditure of $5,250,000 is for site preparation work, including the establishment of a computer room at the Supreme Court Building, installation of additional power supplies and conduits for the computer network.

21. As regards paragraph 17(d) above, the expenditure of $18,099,000 is for contract services to undertake system development, network installation and office automation implementation.

22. As regards paragraph 17(e) above, the expenditure of $2,773,000 is for the conversion of data relating to High Court and Family Court case applications over the past two years, judgements covering the past seven years, the Decree Absolute Register of the Family Court, and the practice directions and guidelines used by judges, judicial officers and support staff.

23. As regards paragraph 17(f) above, the expenditure of $874,000 is for the provision of training in office automation, and the acquisition of consumable and miscellaneous items during project implementation.

24. As regards paragraph 17(g) above, the expenditure of $5,645,000 represents a 10% contingency in respect of the items from paragraphs 17(a) to (f).

25. As regards paragraph 17(h) above, the expenditure of $5,573,000 represents Judiciary staff costs for the implementation of the new system from January 1997 to June 1998. This includes 20% of a Chief Judicial Clerk post, 3.2 posts of Senior Judicial Clerk I/II, one post of Judicial Clerk, 10% of a Senior Clerical Officer post, and 2.6 posts of Clerical Officer I/II. These officers will be responsible for the re-design of forms and documents, supervision of data conversion, co-ordination of site preparation, equipment installation and training. We shall absorb the staffing requirements by internal redeployment.

26. As regards paragraph 17(i) above, the expenditure of $6,500,000 represents ITSD staff costs to establish an implementation team to undertake overall project management, application and network design, procurement, site preparation, installation planning and contract administration. It comprises 30% of a Senior Systems Manager post, one post of Systems Manager, four posts of Analyst/Programmer I and one post of Analyst/Programmer II. ITSD will absorb the staffing requirements by internal redeployment.

27. We estimate the recurrent expenditure and costs as follows -

28. As regards paragraph 27(a) above, the expenditure of $3,046,000 is to meet maintenance service charges for the computer hardware and system software. The existing computer bulk contract allows a special discount for maintenance service charges of some equipment for the first four years. There will be an increase of $1,098,000 in the maintenance costs from 2002-03 onwards.

29. As regards paragraph 27(b) above, the expenditure of $1,024,000 is for maintenance of the communications network equipment and for the rental of communication lines.

30. As regards paragraph 27(c), the expenditure of $1,555,000 is for contract services to supplement the ITSD team in providing on-going system support and maintenance.

31. As regards paragraph 27(d), the expenditure of $297,000 is for the provision of consumable items, such as toners and paper for the printers, and tapes for backup purposes.

32. As regards paragraph 27(e)(i), the expenditure represents Judiciary staff costs arising from the additional data entry work required at the registries, additional effort to maintain the electronic legal reference up-to-date, and additional supervisory input to cope with the increase in processing capacity resulting from the efficiency improvements. These consist of 50% of a Senior Judicial Clerk I post, two posts of Senior Judicial Clerk II, one post of Judicial Clerk, and two posts of Clerical Assistant.

33. As regards paragraph 27(e)(ii), the expenditure represents ITSD’s system support and maintenance effort that essentially consists of 50% of a Systems Manager post, 2.2 posts of Analyst/Programmer I and one post of Analyst/Programmer II.

Implementation Plan

34. We plan to implement JISS Phase II through a phased delivery approach of the major system functions in accordance with the following timetable -

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

35. In 1991 the Judiciary commissioned a consultancy study to advise on areas where the application of information technology can bring about improvements in service and efficiency and to recommend a strategy for implementation. We completed the study in mid-1992. The consultants proposed the provision of information technology support to all the main operational functions of the Judiciary on a phased basis.

36. The Finance Committee approved funding for Phase I of the implementation plan for JISS on 10 June 1994. We successfully completed implementation on schedule in November 1995. It has achieved its objectives in providing improved services to the public, increased the handling capacities, reduced court waiting times and improved operational efficiency at the District Court, Small Claims Tribunal and Probate Registry. We also commenced a feasibility study of Phase II in 1995 and upon completion of the study, we now seek Members’ funding approval for implementation of Phase II.

Judiciary
December 1996

---

Enclosure 1 to FCR(96-97)84

Original Scope of Judiciary Information Systems Strategy -- Objectives of Individual Phases

---

Judiciary Information Systems Strategy - Major Projects in Each Phase

---

Enclosure 2 to FCR(96-97)84

Summary of the key component systems of Judiciary Information Systems Strategy (Phase II)

The major functions of the key component systems are -

(a) Case Management and Listing for High Court, Court of Appeal and Family Court

capture and maintain the essential case information;
provide computer assisted listing and integrated electronic diary for judges/judicial officers, courtrooms and court support services;
monitor the availability and utilisation of judges/judicial officers, courtrooms and court support services;
generate cause lists and court documents;
provide case tracking, file tracking and document tracking;
answer enquiries;
provide management information and statistics.

(b) Jury Management

maintain the potential jurors database;
provide random selection of jurors;
generate summonses and letters;
monitor the jury service against case progress.

(c) Bailiff Service Management

monitor service requests and execution results against case progress;
assist task assignment and staff deployment.

(d) Interpreter Service Management

monitor service requests and availability against case progress;
assist task assignment and staff deployment.

(e) Personnel Management

maintain staff particulars, skill/experience profiles, training records, leave records and posting history;
provide leave management and integrate staff availability with electronic court diary.

(f) Electronic Legal Reference Database

maintain a centralised electronic legal reference database which covers internal practice directions, guidelines, judgements and electronic publications of major legal reference materials on CD ROM’s;
provide gateway to access external law databases.

(g) Office Automation (OA)

provide standard Government OA facilities such as electronic mail, word processor, fax facility and scheduler;
cover (i) all judges/judicial officers and their judicial clerks; (ii) officers at MPS 45 or above, and their secretaries/assistants; and also (iii) heads of functional units.

---

Enclosure 3 to FCR(96-97)84

Expected Improvements in Service upon Implementation of the Judiciary Information Systems Strategy Phase II

---

Enclosure 4 to FCR(96-97)84

Cost Benefit Analysis of the proposed Judiciary Information Systems Strategy Plan (Phase II) (at 1996-97 prices)

---