3.9 The far-reaching changes to criminal justice proposed in the "Justice for All" white paper do not require major changes to processes in magistrates' courts. The changes are either legal (such as evidence requirements) or affect the volume of cases (for example, in changing what type of cases will be heard in which courts). Although details will not be fully worked out until the middle of 2003, the Department's initial analysis of the main changes indicates that they will have no effect on the IT systems supporting the management of cases. None have been identified which look likely to require major IT system changes.
3.10 The creation of the new unified administration provided for by the Courts' Bill will be a major undertaking involving changes to the structure and organisation of court management. The Department considers that to attempt a re-engineering of the business processes inside the courts at the same time as the creation of the unified administration would potentially cause change overload and place the whole programme in jeopardy. The Department has therefore taken a conscious decision to concentrate early efforts on setting up the organisation. This will not take place before 2005 with subsequent structural changes evolving after that date.