Marco Velicogna Research Institute on Judicial Systems Italian National Research Council IRSIG-CNR The Challenge of Going Digital: From Paper-Based Registers and Statistics to Electronic Databases and ICT Management Systems for the Governance of Public Prosecutor Offices World Summit Of Prosecutors General, Attorneys General and Chief Prosecutors Third edition, Bucharest, Romania, March 23-25,

IRSIG-CNR –How are the justice systems changing? –How can we (the research) help judiciaries in addressing and governing change?

IRSIG Research Areas  ICT for justice systems  Quality of justice  Justice organisation Description and analysis of the processes of deployment and use of ICT in courts and prosecutors offices Description and analysis of the policies implemented to improve the quality of justice The functioning of courts and public prosecutor’s offices

The focus of today’s presentation is on opportunities, challenges and risks of “going digital”, developing, implementing and adopting ICT tools for the management of the PPOs

Quantitative data from CEPEJ Evaluation of European Judicial Systems Evaluation of European Judicial Systems Data Sources

–Research Institute on Judicial Systems – Italian National Research Council (IRSIG- CNR) –Institute of Constitutional and Administrative Law, Utrecht University, the Netherlands –London School of Economics, UK –Ministry of Justice of Finland –University of Aarhus, Denmark –University of Nanterre, France –AGIS programme JLS/2005/AGIS/175 ICT for PPO –6 in-depth national case studies –15 additional national reports + Eurojust Data Sources More qualitative data from several IRSIG research projects

 Not limited to technologies – European Arrest Warrant THE EUROPEAN ARREST WARRANT IN LAW AND IN PRACTICE: A comparative study for the consolidation of the European law- enforcement area –Italy, IRSIG-CNR – The Netherlands, Utrecht University - Faculty of Law –Portugal, Coimbra University - Center for Social Studies, School of Economics and the ASJP – Association of the Portuguese Judges –Spain, the Judges for Democracy –Financed by the European Commission JLS/2007/JPEN/245 Data Sources

 Not limited to Europe –Australia –Nigeria –Singapore –USA –…–…–…–… Data Sources

The Challenge of Going Digital

Some core elements of the Public Prosecutor Office

Press Charges Drop a case Present the case in court Propose a sentence to the judge Impose/negotiate a penalty without judicial decision Appeal Prosecution Supervise Police Investigation Supervise enforcement procedure Conduct Investigation Request invest. measures from the judge InvestigationEnforcement PPO PPO’s Competences

Press Charges Drop a case Present the case in court Propose a sentence to the judge Impose/negotiate a penalty without judicial decision Appeal Prosecution Supervise Police Investigation Supervise enforcement procedure Conduct Investigation Request invest. measures from the judge InvestigationEnforcement PPO Places and activities

Press Charges Drop a case Present the case in court Propose a sentence to the judge Impose/negotiate a penalty without judicial decision Appeal Prosecution Supervise Police Investigation Supervise enforcement procedure Conduct Investigation Request invest. measures from the judge InvestigationEnforcement PPO Tools

Press Charges Drop a case Present the case in court Propose a sentence to the judge Impose/negotiate a penalty without judicial decision Appeal Prosecution Supervise Police Investigation Supervise enforcement procedure Conduct Investigation Request invest. measures from the judge InvestigationEnforcement PPO Symbols and values

Press Charges Drop a case Present the case in court Propose a sentence to the judge Impose/negotiate a penalty without judicial decision Appeal Prosecution Supervise Police Investigation Supervise enforcement procedure Conduct Investigation Request invest. measures from the judge InvestigationEnforcement PPO Investigation support tools Wiretapping Structured information systems Semantic technologies Criminal records Video conference recording Prosecution support tools Legal databases Document Management Courtroom technologies Enforcement support tools Prison records Surveillance databases Tagging technology Information and Communication Technology ICT to support PPs’ work

Press Charges Drop a case Present the case in court Propose a sentence to the judge Impose/negotiate a penalty without judicial decision Appeal Prosecution Supervise Police Investigation Supervise enforcement procedure Conduct Investigation Request invest. measures from the judge InvestigationEnforcement PPO Investigation support tools Wiretapping Structured information systems Semantic technologies Criminal records Video conference recording Prosecution support tools Legal databases Document Management Courtroom technologies Enforcement support tools Prison records Surveillance databases Tagging technology ICT examples

Press Charges Drop a case Present the case in court Propose a sentence to the judge Impose/negotiate a penalty without judicial decision Appeal Prosecution Supervise Police Investigation Supervise enforcement procedure Conduct Investigation Request invest. measures from the judge InvestigationEnforcement PPO Investigation support tools Wiretapping Structured information systems Semantic technologies Criminal records Video conference recording Prosecution support tools Legal databases Document Management Courtroom technologies Enforcement support tools Prison records Surveillance databases Tagging technology ICT for admin. and management Case tracking Case management systems Management info systems Full Business PPO Systems

Structured Hand-filed databases PPO recordsActivities Documents, case files, recordings Data analysis TRADITIONAL SYSTEM PPO’s PICTURE Use of data for management

Structured Hand-filed databases PPO recordsActivities Documents, case files, recordings Data analysis TRADITIONAL SYSTEM PPO’s PICTURE Digital shadow Automatic extraction GOING DIGITAL Structured databases PPO recordsActivities Documents, case files, recordings Data analysis PPO’s PICTURE Use of data for management

PPO’s PICTURE PPO’s PICTURE Data quality Focus Control Technical issues

Actions PPOs Other Institutional Actors PPO’s PICTURE Reactions Digital Tools Use Perceptions … But not only

Path dependency Institutional components Norms Values Political context Local elements Technological installed base In itinere events

Concluding Remarks (1/2) –Technology is becoming a constitutive element of the Criminal Justice Service Provision –This provides opportunities to improve the management of PPOs but also challenges –Technical –Organizational –Political –Use of ICT for management implies not only functional changes, but has much deeper implications –Change is not limited to what PPOs and PPs do but affects what they are –May sometime rebound in directions difficult to forecast

Concluding Remarks (2/2) Suggestions from the PPOs’ experiences: Move from top down technology driven innovation to design and experimentation arenas Keep in mind that ICT innovation is always more complex and challenging than initially foreseen Always remember that the technical component is the “easy” one… even though it may not be that easy… Think ICT as a plant and not as an element of the office furniture. It needs constant nurturing even after it has been installed, it grows and changes with time, and it may do so in unforeseeable ways.

Marco Velicogna Research Institute on Judicial Systems Italian National Research Council IRSIG-CNR Thank you! World Summit Of Prosecutors General, Attorneys General and Chief Prosecutors Third edition, Bucharest, Romania, March 23-25,