Magistrates? Courts Committees are responsible for defining and setting appropriate standards of quality of service to be expected in their local courts.
A useful blueprint can be found in the Courts Charter published by the Lord Chancellor?s Department (which applies to the County Courts and Crown Courts).
Standards should be monitored constantly and efforts made to build upon existing standards as far as possible.
The demography and local culture of each Magistrates? Courts Committee (MCC) area will to a large extent dictate the reasonable needs of people living and working in the local area.
Committees should therefore produce Local Court Charters which set out the standards of performance which Court Users will then be entitled to expect. These should be in the form of real objectives and not generalised aspirations.
MCC Members will not always have had the opportunity to judge standards of performance from the viewpoint of members of the public and other criminal justice agencies.
To this end it is important that the committee seeks feedback by way of a stakeholder survey, and by making arrangements for first hand observation by a member or members of the committee.
A real measure of what can be achieved can be calculated by listing the time and resources set aside for providing services and by consulting staff for their views on what can be improved and how. Imaginative use of resources can achieve a great deal even where finances are restricted.
Currently MCCs are not empowered to own or lease premises. This may be addressed by legislative reforms if and when the opportunity arises.
The Police and Magistrates? Courts Act 1994, Section (73) together with the Disability Discrimination Act require MCCs to have regard to the needs of Court Users who are disabled.
Where the premises facilities will simply not accommodate the luxury of all the facilities required to provide the standard of quality of service expected by government, it is useful to carry out costings and prepare a business case for capital grant, prioritise these and have them available should an opportunity arise at short notice to bid for year-end capital.
A useful checklist is as follows:
Are there interview rooms for professional court users, including a duty solicitor?s room?
Are there telephones for professional court users, including a duty solicitor?s telephone?
Are there separate waiting areas for family and youth court users, or are such cases separately scheduled? (There is legislative requirement for the proceedings of these courts to be separated from other court business).
Are there separate waiting areas for victims and witnesses?
Is there adequate public seating in waiting areas?
Are there adapted toilet facilities for disabled users?
Is there ramp access for wheelchairs at the main court entrance?
Are the courtrooms and cash office situated at ground floor level, or is a lift available for disabled users?
Are there refreshment facilities?
Are facilities available for nursing mothers?
Are child minding or crèche facilities available?
MCCs are responsible for providing reasonable facilities to enable magistrates and staff to carry out their duties in adequate surroundings.
Sufficient private retiring rooms are essential to efficient decision making by magistrates.
Office accommodation should be reasonably ventilated and as free from noise and distraction as is possible.
Access to public transport and/or reasonably economical car parking is important both for staff and court users.
Storage and filing, as well as IT support are essential to the efficient running of any modern office, whilst in the context of an organisation such as a Magistrates Court, it is vital that sufficient up to date legal text books, reports are reference books are readily available.
As the occupier of public buildings and the employer of staff, the MCC has a statutory duty to comply with current Health and Safety regulations.
Any modern organisation is judged by the manner in which the staff carry out their duties.
MCCs delegate the day to day running of the courts to their senior managers. Those managers are accountable to the committee for putting into effect the policies it sets. Such policies should address such needs as ensuring that Cash Offices are open to the members of the public at times that are convenient, such as before work, after work and during lunch hours.
Dialogue with court users should also be an overall objective of MCC policies. There should be at least one court user group with formal terms of reference which meets quarterly enabling the various agencies concerned to address any matters relevant to quality of service and standards.
Staff Training
Focused and committed staff are an MCCs greatest asset.
Most problems which occur in the workplace can be addressed by appropriate training.
The process of working toward accreditation for Investors in People ensures that the committee?s work-force fully understands its objectives and strategy and the need to set standards for Quality of Service.
Ensuring that staff have access to training to assist them in aspiring to these standards once they have embraced them is an investment, and staff themselves benefit from the validation of the training they have received from their employer. This is an asset both in career development with the Magistrates? Courts Service and externally, should amalgamations cause enforced redundancies.
Motivated staff who are committed to self development should gain job satisfaction in supporting the MCC in reaching high standards of Quality of Service.
The following is a check list of training specifically designed to assist in meeting service standards and reducing stress.
Formal human awareness training, including ethnic, racial and disability awareness.
Formal communication skills training, including oral and written communication.
Training in hostile situations and aggression in the workplace.
Information on fire drills and any other measures which may affect security and health and safety in the workplace.
Is information sent out in advance of the court hearing about:
Location of the Court?
Documents to bring?
A contact point to answer queries?
Where to park?
Public transport access?
Are the following areas addressed?
Is a member of staff available in the main court entrance hall to deal with initial enquiries, receive visitors and direct members of the public?
Is there any policy on how quickly telephone calls should be taken or how promptly replies to correspondence should be sent?
Is the ability of staff to increase standards of performance dependent upon the provision by the MCC of additional administrative resources?
Is adequate use being made of information technology?
Committees should ensure that standards, once achieved are maintained, and
that areas for improvement are identified and diagnosed. This can be undertaken
by:-
Inspectorate Reports
Stakeholder Surveys
Complaints Procedures
Feedback Forms (for Court Users and Magistrates)
MIS Statistics
Thematic Surveys
Statistical Information
Daily Records
Quality of Service Audits
Many organisations plead inadequacy of resources as a reason for not providing the best possible service.
A little creativity and inspiration will bear much fruit and committees should establish priorities and decide what standards of performance can be met locally.
Directing what resources are available to address a particular problem can often result in compensating savings being made through greater efficiency and better co-operation from outside agencies.
A cost benefit analysis although difficult to conduct in the field of public service in which there is no financial outcome, is worth undertaking.
The starting point for such an exercise would be to assess the overall cost per hour of running a court with three magistrates, a clerk, all the ancillary services and to include the costs of attendance by both prosecution and defence.
Reciprocal savings in one anothers? resources should always be at the top of any agenda in inter-agency meetings.
Publicising Information About the Court to the Community
It is not enough to gather feedback and diagnostic material from other agencies and Court users. The Court provides a service to the whole community in that it is there to help deter criminal activity as well as to deal with it.
Court Open Days serve a useful purpose but it is also important that magistrates go out into the community and speak to various groups. The Magistrates? Association Community Project is a worthwhile endeavour which has grown from the Schools
Project, and helps young people to understand at an early stage, the role of the Magistrates? Court in the community and in the judicial system.
Publicising the objectives and successes as well as the limitations of the Court in an annual report which, if published economically, can be distributed to a large number of home owners in the area. Make use of local libraries and other public places as a source of distribution.
It is essential that MCCs lend their support and participation to local Community Safety Initiatives and are committed to working in partnership on a multi-disciplinary basis in all other areas which touch upon the nature of our work.
Once an MCC has embarked upon a policy of information gathering, monitoring and communicating, it will begin to be inspired by creative ideas which build upon its performance.
It is important that Committees are receptive to progressive practices and are willing to pilot them and pioneer them to spread to wider use and improve the criminal justice system as a whole.