1. The 42 local Magistrates' Courts Committees-independent bodies answerable to the Lord Chancellor for their performance-are responsible for the effective administration of the magistrates' courts in their areas. They use different IT systems and have different working practices. The Libra project was designed to provide a national standard IT system across all Magistrates' Courts Committees. It consists of IT infrastructure and office automation facilities, together with a core application to support court work (Figure 2).
Figure 2: The main elements of the Libra project
Infrastructure | (1) A national IT infrastructure, including desktop PCs, printers, networks and full on-line support. |
(2) Office automation facilities, including standard office software such as e-mail, word processing, spreadsheets and diaries. | |
Core application | (3) A standard national application to support court work - case management, accounting and other administration - to replace the five existing ("legacy") systems in the Magistrates' Courts Committees. |
(4) Direct electronic links with other criminal justice agencies and their strategic systems (the police, the Crown Prosecution Service, the probation service, prisons, the Crown Court and the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency). |
Source: Lord Chancellor's Department