OVERVIEW

1. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE & CONSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENTBUSINESS UNIT COURT SERVICESPRESENTATION TO THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON JUSTICE AND CONSTITUIONAL DEVELOPMENT 08 JUNE 2004

2. OVERVIEW Presentation covers – • Restructuring of Court Services through Re Aga Boswa – the lessons and best practices derived from the KZN model • Performance of the Courts • Challenges posed by the current Maintenance recovery system and interventions • Budget and our critical areas • Capital Projects

3. RESTRUCTURING • Regional Offices not adequately capacitated to perform the newly devolved responsibilities • Establishment of regional offices outside the seats of the judiciary presented challenges and tensions – perceptions that regional offices were draining the scarce resources caused discomfort and low staff morale • Study recommended a decentralised model for court administration to build efficiency and effectiveness • Study commissioned be Dept recommended a decentralised model for court administration to build efficiency and effectiveness

4. Court Court Court Court Court Court Court Court Court Court Court Court Regional Office Regional Office Court Court Regional Office Regional Office Court Court Court Court Regional Office Regional Office Head Office Regional Office Regional Office Court Court Court Court Regional Office Regional Office Regional Office Regional Office Court Court Court Court Court Court Court Court Court Court Cluster The As is model • This picture depicts the current operational model and the key features of this model are: • It is a 3 tier organisation with a National Office, Regional Office and the Courts • The Regional Office controls and manages the courts, delegations not extended to court level • National Office retain budget and accountability

5. CSSC CSSC The KZN model • The new model represents a local services option for delivering Court Services. This model is based on locating the delivery and processing of Court Services at the closest point to customers, i.e. Court level, • There is a Court Services Services Centre (CSSC) providing HR and Finance transactions • The Court Management clusters are coordinated at the Office of the Senior Court Manager who also take responsibility for performance management. Senior Court Managers account direct to national office for their performance and resource utilisation Court Court Court Court Court Court Manager CSSC Manager Court Court Court Court Services National Office Court Court Court Court Court Court Court Support Service CSSC Manager Manager Centre Court Court Court Court Court Court Reporting line Service line

6. CourtManager • Manages the budget and approves expenditure for the Court as well as in the cluster where approval falls outside of the Court Office Manager’s delegation in the Court • Mobilises for additional services, budget, establishment approval, etc for the Court as well as courts within that cluster where required • Facilitates and co-ordinates resources between the Courts in the cluster, where required • Is responsible for performance management of the administrative component • Provides tactical direction ensures that strategies are executed in the Courts within its cluster • Manages Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) and Services Level Agreement (SLA’s) with other allied Business Units, JCPS departments and service providers within his/her cluster • Ensures standardisation of services delivered to Courts • Ensures standards of service delivery are complied with

7. Regional Office • Benefits: • Swift decision • Accountability • Localised performance management • Reduced cycle times • Efficiency • Service delivery • Proximity to court users and customers Delegations Court Managers

8. COURT INFORMATION MANAGEMENT • Established Ops Centre (Court Nerve Centre) to collate, analyse and put to best use court information for planning and intervention purposes • We are developing a system that would allow easy inflow of information from court to the Centre • IT Graduates interns from DST will assist in implementing an effective court information management system and address capacity problems • Interns will assist to collate information relating to civil and family law matters • Capacity established at IJSCC to collate information relevant to the JCPS cluster on regular basis • The establishment of Projects Support Office linked to the CNC will assist in regular assessment of projects and the impact

9. COURT PERFORMANCE: - The latest statistics • The number of new criminal cases dealt with increased from 750 000 in 2001 to over 1 million in 2003 • During the first quarter of 2004, close on 280 000 new cases have been dealt with in the lower courts • This increase has been managed with largely with the same staff complement • Despite this overall increase in productivity, the number of cases on the outstanding roll (case backlogs) in the district courts in particular has increased substantially during the past five years (from 104 000 in 1999 to 150 000 in 2003). • However, the most recent information indicates a decline in the outstanding roll in the district courts, from 149 539 as at the end of December 2003 to 139 459 as at the end of March 2004; comparative figures for the regional courts were 43 573 as at the end of December 2003 and 44 797 as at the end of March 2004

10. At the 46 courts where IJ Court Centres have been established, dockets are closely scrutinized to determine the readiness of the case for trial; this has led to a 28% improvement in case preparation cycle time, thereby reducing the time that offenders spend awaiting trial • As part of Case Flow Management the judiciary are taking control of court rolls and court scheduling, leading to reduced case cycle times • Integrated Case Flow Management fora have been established, led by the judiciary and including all criminal justice role players • Co-operative agreement/protocols to regulate interface and relationship between each party/role-player will ensure coordination • In the lower courts the cluster head is implementing minimum case flow principles, such as an audit of the case roll; determining standards for outstanding cases; and the prioritisation of cases • With regard to civil matters processes have been undertaken to identify blockages and suggest solutions, such as amendments to the rules of court (Rules Board)

11. Case scheduling is now shifted from the prosecution to the judiciary and the regional court sites only allow for two postponement dates namely, plea and trial, to avoid unnecessary remands in between • Templates have been developed to co-ordinate the caseflow activities and to determine case readiness in advance • Some initial statistics indicate that at Soshanguve, for example, pre-trial conferences are held in all cases and a control system has been introduced to deal with the loss of charge sheets • Average court hours increased to 4 hours per day, and actual triable cases are being monitored on a monthly basis

12. At times delays have been due to the difficulties relating to an offender obtaining legal Aid. This is being addressed by the roll out of the Legal Aid Board’s Justice Centres, now operating at 53 sites throughout the country. These Centres have led to improved legal aid services at courts • Bottlenecks are also addressed through initiatives such as Saturday and Additional Courts, which have resulted in an additional 68 000 cases being finalized since the start of the initiative in 2001. • Sexual Offences courts are also aimed at addressing bottlenecks in the finalization and successful conviction of sexual crimes; the conviction rate in sexual offences courts is 62% compared to 48% for similar crimes in ordinary regional courts

13. - Customer satisfaction • A study by the ISS show that the Re Aga Boswa process in KZN has the potential of improving services, reducing backlogs and response times • A recent (2003) ISS countrywide survey revealed that knowledge of the court system is relatively with four out of five South Africans being aware of the location of the nearest magistrates court. Furthermore, • Half indicated that it would take them less than half an hour to reach the court; however, 12% reported that it would take them between one and two hours to reach the court • Close on 60% were of the view that the courts were performing their duties adequately • This proportion increases to 70% in the case of those who had attended court during the past three years • Of those who expressed dissatisfaction, the most common reason (67%) was that matters “drag on for too long”

14. COMMUNITY COURTS- Hatfield model • The Hatfield community court is a public-private partnership • The court, which is situated at the Brooklyn Police Station, commenced its duties on 5 April 2004 • The court's focus is on appropriate handling of all lower court cases from the area, specifically offences that are rife within the area such as handbag and cell phone theft, offences relating to drug and alcohol abuse, municipal by-law offences and petty offences • It will, in the long run, serve as a positive crime prevention strategy • Roll-out will be dealt with in conjunction with the NPA, who is currently carrying out a feasibility study for possible areas, the judiciary, universities, metros and other relevant role-players. The following areas are among those considered Potchefstroom; Middelburg; Kimberley; Upington; Bloemfontein; Cape Town; Manenburg (Gugulethu); Pietersburg; Durban; Verulam; Johannesburg; Port Elizabeth; Pietermaritzburg; East London; Potgietersrus; Butterworth; and Queenstown

15. Maintenance • Johannesburg Maintenance and Family Courts Service Delivery Improvement: • Improvements include the following: • “As is” document completed, setting out the existing service delivery environment at the Johannesburg Family Court which will form the basis or springboard for Service Delivery Improvement. ‘Ideal Environment Document also completed • Spatial Re-Design plans scrutinized to maximize improvement to service delivery • Extensive Change Management and Information Sessions, including judiciary • Model structure to deal will maintenance effectively developed and will be rolled out to other areas

16. Maintenance Circuit Courts: • Maintenance Circuit Courts are only held in the Northern Cape where such a need was identified • This is usually done when the Periodical Courts visit the districts • Feasibility studies to extend circuits to rural and remote lying areas are being conducted to extend the initiative Maintenance Investigators: • There are 72 Maintenance Investigators currently appointed in 71 court centres countrywide • Criteria for the appointment of Maintenance Investigators is based on Backlogs, availability/effectiveness of the local sheriff in serving process • his has improved in the past six months and we are gradually noticing positive results due to the training conducted to maintenance investigators, maintenance prosecutors, maintenance officers/clerks and Domestic Violence clerks in all nine Provinces

18. A conceptual representation of the Information Management environment is given below.

19. Information Management Area Customer Assistance Personnel Engagement Area

20. Specialiased/Dedicated Courts Small claims courts • Jurisdiction has been increased to R7000 as of 01 April 2004; this will enable the public to have a greater spectrum of Small Claims heard and will be of benefit specially to the poor • In addition, 162 Commissioners have been appointed and 88 Advisory Board members have been appointed which is a positive step in making these courts working • Stats from various courts differ and it may take anything from 1 week to 3 months from issuing of summons to finalisation of hearing of case after hours • We are pursuing the BEE initiative to address the plight of small attorneys who are negatively affected by the non availability of legal aid work and increased jurisdiction for small claims

21. Specialiased/Dedicated Courts Small claims courts • Jurisdiction has been increased to R7000 as of 01 April 2004; this will enable the public to have a greater spectrum of Small Claims heard and will be of benefit specially to the poor • In addition, 162 Commissioners have been appointed and 88 Advisory Board members have been appointed which is a positive step in making these courts working • Stats from various courts differ and it may take anything from 1 week to 3 months from issuing of summons to finalisation of hearing of case after hours • We are pursuing the BEE initiative to address the plight of small attorneys who are negatively affected by the non availability of legal aid work and increased jurisdiction for small claims

22. Specialiased/Dedicated Courts Equality courts • 210 Equality courts established • 800 Magistrates trained • 62 cases reported in initial phase of operations

23. BUDGET • In the current financial year (2004/05), Court Services has been allocated a total of R2 402 408 000; this represents an increase of 16% on the previous year • In the table below the breakdown of the budget per programme can be seen

24. PRIORITIES & CHALLENGES • Refinement of the KZN model, Package best practices and move forward with the rollout • Institutionalisation of court management system, alignment of administrative, judicial and prosecutorial clusters • Reduction of case backlogs (by 40%) shortened case cycle time (by six months); establish ADR fora including community courts in major centres, mainstream traditional and community courts;

25. - Single judiciary (two-tier lower court judicial structure opposed to a flat structure, alignment/integration of JSC and Magistrates Commission, single line of command through Chief Justice and Judges President - High Courts and Lower courts structures (Superior Courts Legislation, proclaiming magisterial boundaries - Language policy for courts

26. Inadequate security and non-conformity to occupational health standards at service delivery points – current budget stand at R75 mil with over R500 mil needed • Inadequate budget for courts resulting in under staffing, Have R70 mil HR shortfall resulting in temporary employees to sustain services

27. CAPITAL WORKS PROJECTS • An integrated Blueprint being developed to guide the establishment of new buildings and refurbishment • The building of courts to be based on integrated development initiatives informed by the Integrated rural development and Urban Renewal programmes • The day-to-day maintenance programme to be expanded to poverty alleviation initiatives • Transfer of day-to-day maintenance to the Dept will improve standard of service in the maintenance of our courts

28. NEW COURT BUILDINGS/ ADDITIONS TO BUILDINGS – 2003/04 • New buildings completed are Constitutional Court, Tembisa, Centani, Tshidilamolomo, Port Elizabeth (Magistrate) • New buildings planned are • Motherwell: New Building • Tsakane: New Building • Daveyton: New Building • Ekangala: New Building • Madadeni: New Building • Ntuzuma: New Building

29. BUILDING PROGRAMME • Major Projects in ConstructionCompletion Date • Port Elizabeth: New Magistrate’s Court New additional completed and old part 10 June 2004 • Pretoria North: Additions September 2004 • Benoni: Additions September 2004 • Tembisa: New Magistrate’s Court  New additions completed and old part July 2004 • Randburg: New Magistrate’s Court - February 2005 • Atteridgeville: New Magistrate’s Court - June 2004 • Bothitong: New Periodical Court On hold – Contractor liquidated • Atamelang: Additions  On hold – Contractor liquidated • Boksburg: Magistrate’s Court: Additional Civil Courts June 2004 • Durban: Serious Commercial Crime Court  August 2004 • Port Elizabeth: Serious Commercial Crime Court  June 2004 • Ceres: Additional Accommodation  October 2005 • Scottburgh: Additional Accommodation  June 2004

30. THANK YOU