1.10 The Department has no direct control over the internal processes within Magistrates' Courts Committees. There remain considerable differences between Committees in the way that they operate. They are responsible for their own procedures and forms in implementing legislation and central government policy. As a result, practices vary considerably from one Magistrates' Courts Committee to another, for example, on the format of case file sheets and legal aid application forms.
1.11 There are three main existing IT systems - developed by ICL, Unisys and STL - which support the case management business of Magistrates' Courts Committees. Two Committees also have their own bespoke systems. The applications are based on different design concepts and a measure of local configuration is practised. All these systems have been in existence for many years, although they have been enhanced to support changes to legislation and the needs of the user community. The systems do not, however, allow information to be shared electronically with each other. About one-third of Magistrates' Courts Committees currently use the system supplied by STL and two more are in the process of migrating to it. The STL system has been updated to run on a modern server and additional modern application modules are available. Unlike the STL system, the ICL and Unisys systems have not been updated to run on a modern server and therefore are unable to meet the future business needs of Magistrates' Courts Committees and the wider criminal justice system.