Goals, Objectives, Strategies and Measures — Continued

Goal 1: Support services provided to the court facilitate efficient case processing.

Outcome:

Services related to registry and trial support as well as to security and escorts that enable efficient case processing

Efficient support services aid the flow of cases through the courts. Without the assistance of registry clerks, trial schedulers, and security staff among others, cases cannot proceed in a timely fashion, and justice may be compromised. Support services that are efficient and appropriate help to ensure that courts remain accessible and secure to all who need them and that the province's citizens can have confidence in the way the courts are operated.

Core Business Area:

Court Services

Objective 1:

Support that meets the needs of all three levels of court in British Columbia

Each level of court assigns sitting time for its judges and other judicial officers. The number of judges and their assigned sitting time significantly defines the capacity of the court system. This business area is required to support all judicial sittings and associated case processing activities with registry services, trial support, security, escort of persons in custody, and various forms of administration associated with each of these types of services.

As a measure, the number of sitting hours that are supported provides a baseline to assist the future development of more useful measures. For example, it is desirable to know the percentage of available sitting hours that are actually used for courtroom sittings. It is also desirable to examine this percentage separately for circuit courts and full-time courts. These potential new efficiency measures are now under consideration.

Efficiency in this business area has improved, due in part to technology and improved business processes. The third measure above tracks the implementation of a civil case processing system that has the capacity to produce even greater efficiencies.

In comparison with five years ago, the area has 12.2 per cent fewer full-time equivalent employees (FTEs) per judge; yet each FTE handles 8.3 per cent more cases. These two figures are indicators of both efficiency and operational pressures.

Strategies:

1. Provide staff with appropriate training, policies, and business processes.

2. Implement and enhance technology applications that support business and court processes.

3. Maintain high standards of security.

Objective 2:

Adherence to ministry standards for timely processing of court documents and orders

As discussed in Appendix 2: Supplementary Performance Information, many indicators of justice system efficiency are the cumulative results of actions by many agencies and are not within the direct management and control of this business area or any other single agency. Indicators such as the average months of trial delay in Provincial Court criminal cases, or the average number of appearances per completed case in Provincial Court, can be viewed as indicators of overall well-being and efficiency within the courts.

The Court Services Branch has developed some representative performance standards and measures that relate more directly to the services provided to the courts. The branch supports the judiciary in hearing and processing a diverse range of criminal, civil and family cases, both inside and outside courtrooms, and in locations that vary from one courtroom with small case volumes to more than forty courtrooms with high case volumes. Selecting meaningful performance standards within the branch's direct influence is challenging due to issues of significance, measurability, and variability. The range of case types and associated support activities necessitate selecting a limited number of standards that are proxies for, or indicators of performance for, broader activities. The measures below relate to some of these standards.

Promptly releasing accused persons when so ordered is a significant efficiency measure. It is also important in terms of carrying out court orders and having due regard for individual rights and personal freedom.

Entering post-court data promptly into the JUSTIN system is a significant measure of efficiency in handling case information. It also is important for public safety and law enforcement: accurate information with respect to outstanding warrants or conditions in judgments and court orders must be verifiable and accessible.

Strategy:

In conjunction with judiciary and other agencies, develop performance standards and measures.⁴