by STAFF WRITER
February 15, 2022
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, Feb 15, CMC – The Trinidad-based Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) Tuesday said it had become the first court in the region to be accepted into the prestigious International Consortium for Court Excellence (ICCE).
The ICCE is an international network of courts and other organisations with expertise in court and judicial administration, dedicated to ensuring high-quality service delivery.
“While we can proudly state that we are living our strategic vision of being a model of judicial excellence; excellence is not a static achievement. It is a non-stop cycle that requires continuous improvement,” said CCJ President, Justice Adrian Saunders.
The CCJ, which observes its 17th anniversary in April this year, joins other long-established organisations such as the Supreme Court of Singapore and the National Centre for States Courts of the United States as members of the ICCE.
“To be accepted into the ICCE, organisations must demonstrate a commitment to excellence using an International Framework for Court Excellence (IFCE), a quality management system designed to help courts consistently improve their performance in seven core areas. These include court management and leadership, court policies, court proceedings, public trust and confidence, user satisfaction, court resources and affordable and accessible court services,” the CCJ said in a statement.
The IFCE was first introduced to the Court by its former CCJ president, Sir Dennis Byron in 2016 and following an objective self-assessment, several projects were subsequently initiated to address limitations identified from the assessment.
Under the leadership of Justice Saunders, the system has now been fully incorporated into the CCJ’s administrative practices.
Together with the Court’s strategic plan, the Framework has become a major influence on all Court projects and organisational processes.
Some of these initiatives include the implementation of an online e-Filing system which now allows individuals to file documents at the Court electronically, reducing the cost and time spent on filing, the implementation of a Human Resources Information System that has improved the organisation’s ability to effectively collect and store employee information, the linking of the Court’s Strategic Agenda to its Excellence Framework with the creation of monitoring and evaluation processes and the introduction of Enterprise Risk Management to help the Court identify and manage risks.
Justice Saunders has pledged that the CCJ, which was established to replace the London-based Privy Council as the region’s final court, will “continue to serve the region to the best of our ability; fulfilling our mission of providing accessible, fair and efficient justice for the people and states of the Caribbean Community.”
CMC/fd/ir/2022
