HM Courts and Tribunal Service (HMCTS) is planning to retain but improve the Digital Case System (DCS) for Crown Courts despite the Common Platform being expected to be fully available by March of next year.
Its crime programme director, Daniel Flury, has outlined the plan in an update on progress in developing the Common Platform, a digital case management system that is a major element of the HMCTS court reform programme.
He said the feedback from judges, legal professionals and staff has led to the decision to keep the DCS – which was first deployed in 2015 – in place for Crown Courts.
“We’ll carry on using DCS for case material and document management in the Crown Court, while continuing to use Common Platform for this purpose in the magistrates’ court,” he said, adding:
“We’ll look at ways we can enhance DCS in future and make sure the two systems work well together, and we’re exploring opportunities for the transfer of data and information between them.”
Case material and documents
The Common Platform will be used in magistrates’ courts for case material and document management, and for completing Preparation for Effective Trial (PEI) and Better Case Management (BCM) forms, and by legal professionals to check in to hearings in both Crown and magistrates’ courts.
Flury said the work on Common Platform is still on course for it to replace the Libra and Xhibit systems by March 2025, with a number of improvements currently being made. These include functionality for all case and hearing types to be handled by the system, for more non-police prosecutors to have access, for better scheduling and listing, and for better PET and BCM forms.
Work is also taking place to fix defects and improve the overall stability of the platform.
“Common Platform remains the system of court record, in both the Crown Court and magistrates’ courts,” Flury said. “We’ll use it to store and report on essential data, keep court logs, record and share results, as well as generate and send notices, orders and warrants.
“Use of the system will remain essential for legal professionals in both jurisdictions, and we’ll keep engaging with practitioners to better understand their views and enhance their user experience.”
All Crown and magistrates’ courts have had access to the Common Platform since the middle of last year. This follows delays on its delivery since work began in 2012, with Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee having published a critical report on its progress.
