CASE FLOW MANAGEMENT

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CASE FLOW MANAGEMENT

• Presentation by Thomson Ligowe
• Malawi Judiciary
• Salima-30 September

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Introduction

• Section 41 of the Constitution
• Right to recognition before the law
• Right of access to court of law/ tribunal for
  final settlement of legal issues
• Right to effective remedy
• Section 103 of the constitution
• Judiciary has independent jurisdiction over
  all issues of judicial nature- thus at centre
  stage in administration and dispensation of
  justice
• Therefore Case flow Management is important to
  the Judiciary

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Case Flow Management

• Not very easy to define but basically it can be
  the courts control of a case from registration
  to completion
• Objective
• To deal with a case
• fairly
• expeditiously
• cheaply
• Justly
• while maximizing access
• Thus in response to Sec 41 and 103 of the
  Constitution

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Attributes of Case Flow Management

• Equal access to justice
• No case to be given preferential treatment except
  positive discrimination in cases involving
  juveniles vulnerable people
• Good reception of Court users.
• Proper record maintenance and management.
• Proper and systematic filing of cases.
• Proper management of Court space.
• Speedy trial, timely delivery and enforcement of
  judgments.
• Steady, amiable working relationship between
  Judicial officers and support staff.

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Relevance of Case Flow Management

• A Strong justice system and Rule of law can be
  achieved with proper case management.
• Good case management ensures good quality and
  high quantity of cases handled thereby bringing a
  sense of security among court users and the whole
  society.
• It ensures peoples enjoyment of their rights
  and access to administrative justice.

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What the Judiciary has done/is doing

• Strategic Plan formulated and establishment of
  MJDP
• Mission
• To provide independent and impartial justice
  and Judicial services that are efficient and that
  earn the respect, trust and confidence of
  society
• Vision by 2008
• Low case backlog
• High performance standards
• High throughput of cases
• Large number of cases registered
• Straight forward procedures
• Availability of courts

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Malawi Judiciary Development programme out puts

• Capacity and work ethics of judicial officers and
  support staff enhanced.
• Case flow management and monitoring systems
  improved.
• Court procedures simplified.
• Adequate court space provided.
• Closer links with other Agencies established and
  maintained.
• Resource mobilisation diversified and
  strengthened.
• General and financial management strengthened.

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Case flow management and monitoring systems
improved

• Strategic activities
• Assess staffing needs for effective case flow
  management
• Increase number of judicial officers and staff in
  accordance with identified needs
• Train court clerks in records management
• Reinforce judicial officers role in case flow
  management
• Establish and implement monitoring mechanisms
• Develop and implement means of improving handling
  of confirmation, review and appeal processes
• Develop and implement means of improving
  supervision of court registries
• Establish time limits for completion of cases
• Review system of confirmation of judgments
• Conduct physical count and reconciliation
  exercises
• Establish adjournment guidelines
• Record adjournment of trials and reasons
• Establish guideline for the filtering of non
  deserving cases and for coordinated fixing of
  trials
• Record court hours indicating court sitting hours
• Conduct study of judgment execution service and
  recommend system

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SUMMARY OF CRIMINAL AND CIVIL CASES STATISTICS
FROM 2002 2006 The High Court
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Conclusion

• There is still more work to do to have an
  improved case flow management and monitoring
  system as the statistics are far from what is
  desired.
• We therefore appeal for commitment within the
  Judiciary and among other related stakeholders to
  ensure the goal is achieved

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• Thank you Very Much