Audit struggles to measure court efficiency

(CNS): Measuring the cost and efficiency of administering justice in Cayman’s lower courts proved difficult for the Office of the Auditor General after a review found limited performance information and gaps throughout the system, including over the new courthouse investment. Auditor General Sue Winspear said the business case for the project was still in draft, had some major gaps and no support has been presented on why ten courtrooms are needed or what the overall price tag will be.

“The need for a new court house is not in question as the current court facilities are not fit for purpose,” Winspear said about the report, which focused largely on the summary courts.

“However, the Outline Business Case for the project is still in draft form and there are a number of significant gaps in the information presented,” Winspear said. She added “There is no recent analysis of current and future workload that justifies the need for the number of court rooms being proposed.”

She also warned that there was very limited performance information available and what was available was not being used to understand, manage or improve its performance.

“Judicial Administration does not record its expenditure by type of court, despite the budget being set in this way, or calculate the cost per case. The lack of performance and financial information means that is difficult to assess the overall efficiency and effectiveness of Summary Courts or Judicial Administration,” Winspear added.

The courts are in the process of upgrading their IT systems, which has the potential to improve efficiency of operations, the auditors stated, but pointed out that there is no business case documenting the costs and intended benefits of the new system.

“There will be no way of knowing the extent to which it contributes to improvements in efficiency, or whether it has delivered value for money,” the auditors warned, adding that the introduction of the new IT system will impact other agencies, such as the police and prosecutors. But the courts plan to restrict access to its own staff, which could still undermine the efficiency.

The audit identified a wide range of issues, from the 30% increase in unpaid traffic tickets that end up in the courts to a significant lack of defence attorneys, which seriously impacts the summary court.

“It is not clear if the number of criminal defence attorneys in the Cayman Islands is sufficient to handle the workload or whether more could be done to stimulate the market,” the report noted.

It also revealed that judicial administration has not collected information on the significant issues impacting efficiency or its own workforce to determine how many staff it will need with what skills for the new courts and future demand for its services.

The audit concluded that there are many gaps and inefficiencies in the system and that there is scope to improve the justice system as a whole by establishing a high-level, strategic group made up of the most senior officers in all of the justice bodies. The audit report also made nine recommendations to help to improve operations.

See the audit report in the CNS Library