View / Download - County Court of Victoria

personnel, community organisationsand, where special circumstancesInformation Officer reduces the riskinput by Court staff from the CLMSand Court security.exist, for some pleas. VGRS does notof non-compliance with suppressionUser Support Team.The sensitivity required by CourtNetworkers in supporting Court users(often through days of long trials, inrecord appeal hearings.In civil matters, the Court has thecapacity to record all proceedings.orders, by alerting the media whensuppression orders are made by theCourt.As manager of the CLMS Project,Ross Capuana has kept theCommittee up-to-date with theparticular, supporting children andsome adults via video link) is an integralpart of their daily work.In addition, Court Networkers referCourt users to other communityorganisations for further assistance,particularly the Victorian Associationfor the Care and Rehabilitation ofOffenders (VACRO) and MelbourneAssessment Prison (MAP).Juries Commissioner’sOfficeLocated at the County CourtComplex, the Juries Commissioner’sOffice (JCO) manages jurors forboth the Supreme and CountyCourts. Deputy JuriesCommissioners at regional courtssummon prospective jurors forsittings at their respective courts.Jurors served a total of 25,942 jurortrial days at 557 County Court trialsduring 2004–05.The Annual Report of the SupremeCourt of Victoria documents theactivities of the JCO.Victorian GovernmentReporting Service (VGRS)The VGRS records all criminal matters,including trials and pleas, anddirections hearings conducted beforetrial. The VGRS offers a timely andefficient service to the Court, electronicallyproviding transcripts toJudges for sentences, criminal trialsHowever, the provision of transcriptsis determined by the parties whoarrange for its provision on a userpaysbasis.During 2004–05, the new multi-jurisdictionalcourt complexes in Milduraand Warrnambool were fitted withmodern communications systems,enabling these courts to offer thesame videoconferencing and remotetranscript facilities as provided inMelbourne.To meet an expected increase inmore complex criminal trials, twocourtrooms were refurbished andfurther developed to take advantageof new technologies. Projection systemswere installed, along with computercabling to allow the inclusionof data presentations using laptopcomputers simultaneously within thecourtroom and via videoconferencelink. The courtrooms were fittedwith smartboards, interactive displaysand document cameras toenable the capture of data asexhibits to an electronic court-book.These systems were integrated asseamlessly as possible so not tointerfere with normal court activity.Courts’ Information OfficerThe Courts’ Information Officer formsan important link between the Courtand the media, enabling more accurateand reliable reporting of courtproceedings. In addition, theInformationTechnology SupportThe Court Technology Committeemanages the Court’s informationtechnology (IT) infrastructure andapplications. The committee comprised12 members who met on 10occasions during 2004–05.Committee members oversee theimplementation and maintenance ofup-to-date technological services tothe Court and liaise with various serviceproviders and both internal andexternal users.During 2004–05, the Committeemonitored and focused on the development,expansion and maintenanceof IT support to the Court’s Judgesand staff. At all times, the Committeesought to introduce applications toadvance productivity and efficiency.Case and List ManagementSystem (CLMS)The Case and List ManagementSystem (CLMS) comprises fourmajor components, three of whichhave been implemented and are inuse on an operational basis. Thefourth component, the OrdersModule, will be used by Associatesto enter details relating toCourt outcomes (orders) into CLMS.As of 30 June 2005, the CLMSOrders Module was under developmentby the Criminal JusticeEnhancement Program (CJEP) withdevelopment of this project. Inaddition, the support team hasincluded:• Kate Spillane from Civil Listing;• Associate Shane Alexander,who joined the CLMS team fulltimein November 2004;• Training and DevelopmentOfficer Suzie Peck; and• Senior Associate (Training)Sarah McHutchison.The benefits that the Court will gainby introducing the Orders Moduleare:• a complete, up-to-date recordof sentencing outcomes;• reports and statistical analysiscompiled on a timely andrecurring basis;• Orders of the Court captured ina comprehensive, systematicand timely manner and forwardedto external parties whorequire this critical information(e.g. OPP, solicitors,Corrections Victoria); and• streamlined handling of information,including once onlydata capture, elimination ofduplication, fewer errors andreduced search times for locatinginformation about case outcomes.As of 30 June 2005 three order typeswere available for use by the Courtand the next group of criminalCourt Profile 49