Background to feasibility study

In April 2005 the DCA Joint-Judicial Steering Group on IT and Court Modernisation commissioned a feasibility study into the potential to introduce Electronic Filing and Document Management (EFDM) for the civil and family courts in England and Wales. The study reported in December 2005.

In the context of the feasibility study:

• E-filing is the provision of a service that allows parties involved in court proceedings or their representatives to file documents electronically with the court or between the parties in a secure and authenticated manner.
• Document management facilitates those documents to be held electronically, accessed and managed by the courts during the process, and stored and managed after completion.

Potentially, implementing EFDM would facilitate an electronic case file, which would become the official court file of record, with paper copies of files, or extracts, produced 'on demand' (e.g. at court hearings).

The feasibility study concluded that introducing EFDM could offer significant benefits to HMCS, judges, and users of the courts, including:

• Reducing/removing onerous paper heavy processes within court offices
• Reducing/removing problems associated with lost papers and files
• Providing a faster and more convenient service for users
• Providing parties with timely and secure access to (appropriate) information about their cases, including tracking progress of documents filed
• Improving access to documents in the public domain
• Providing better support to judges
• Enabling the modernisation of courts back office working practices (e.g. manual fee accounting activities)
• Enabling a more flexible use of the HMCS estate, including co-location and reorganisation of back office functions

Introducing EFDM to all civil and family courts would be a major business transformation programme, impacting on both the courts and their users. It is therefore likely that full implementation of EFDM would need to be 'phased in' over several years. A potential timeline for the implementation of EFDM is set out below:

• Work in Progress – Complete detailed 'programme definition' phase (which will inform final decisions on whether to implement EFDM)
• 2007/08 – Procurement and system development phase
• 2008/09 – Earliest 'phased' implementation of EFDM would commence
• 2010/11 – Earliest completion of 'phased' implementation

Key outputs of the ongoing programme definition stage include detailed business and technical requirements, a blueprint of how EFDM will work and a more comprehensive business case. These outputs will inform the decision upon whether or not to proceed to the procurement stage, which will be made in Summer 2007.

Throughout the programme definition phase the programme team have been engaging with nominated representatives of key stakeholder groups (e.g. judges, the Law Society and Bar Council, HMCS staff and operational managers).

For further information please contact Sue Risteski via e-mail sue.risteski@hmcourts-service.gsi.gov.uk