March 21, 2007Ljubljana1 The eJustice Project in Austria - Applying eGoverment Interfaces to Increase the Efficiency of Justice Administration Ljubljana, 21. March 2007 Johann Kickinger, IBM Global Business Services

IBM Global Business Services © Copyright BMJ, BMF, BRZG and IBM Corporation 2007 Ljubljana | March 21, Agenda  Business background  Automation of court proceedings  E-Government interfaces, e.g.: - Electronic legal communication - Database on decrees (court edicts):  Benefits and success factors

IBM Global Business Services © Copyright BMJ, BMF, BRZG and IBM Corporation 2007 Ljubljana | March 21, Austrian Justice System  Courts on 4 levels - Supreme court - 4 Courts of appeal - 20 Regional high courts District courts (small courts have been closed)  Prosecution offices parallel to the courts  Persons at courts Judges and prosecutors Court officials  Persons at 28 prisons  Budget 2006: - Spendings: 976 Mio EUR - Income (fees): 727 Mio EUR (Population of Austria: ~ 8 million inhabitants) Own income covers of spendings! 74,5%

IBM Global Business Services © Copyright BMJ, BMF, BRZG and IBM Corporation 2007 Ljubljana | March 21, Case Types and Volumes  Total of 3.4 million new cases per year (2005) - 47 different proceeding types  The major case types are: - Civil cases ( ) - Enforcement cases ( ) - Criminal cases ( ) - Prosecution proceedings ( ) - Land register applications: ( ) - Commercial register applications: ( )

IBM Global Business Services © Copyright BMJ, BMF, BRZG and IBM Corporation 2007 Ljubljana | March 21, Goals for Automation of Judicial Proceedings  Business goals: - Rationalizing and increasing the speed of court and prosecution proceedings - Improving the service for the general public  One uniform application for court case management: - For all different types of proceedings  prosecution proceedings and criminal proceedings at court, civil proceedings, enforcement of civil titles, family cases, remedy, bankruptcy cases and all minor case types - For all the different types of courts throughout Austria

IBM Global Business Services © Copyright BMJ, BMF, BRZG and IBM Corporation 2007 Ljubljana | March 21, Project “Redesign – Automation of Judicial Proceedings”  Complete renewal of the court automation system  Project duration: 1997 to Sept  Total effort: 165 person years - including effort of own personnel  After project end: - continuous enhancements - adoption to legal and organizational changes

IBM Global Business Services © Copyright BMJ, BMF, BRZG and IBM Corporation 2007 Ljubljana | March 21, Joint development proved to be successful  Austrian Federal Ministry of Justice and Courts - project funding and subject matter experts  Austrian Federal Ministry of Finance and  Austrian Federal Data Center - subject matter experts, knowledge of the old application - development personnel  IBM - development personnel - expertise in object technology - project management - international courts experience and re-use

IBM Global Business Services © Copyright BMJ, BMF, BRZG and IBM Corporation 2007 Ljubljana | March 21, Automation of Court Proceedings – User-Interface

IBM Global Business Services © Copyright BMJ, BMF, BRZG and IBM Corporation 2007 Ljubljana | March 21, Austrian Court Automation: Functions and eGovernment Interfaces Printing Docket Name query Statistics Court fees Social security enquiry GUI Online Help Integrated word proc. Electronic Legal Communication Court Automation Electronic Publication External Inquiries

IBM Global Business Services © Copyright BMJ, BMF, BRZG and IBM Corporation 2007 Ljubljana | March 21, Applying eGovernment interfaces to expand the reach of the justice enterprise Supreme court High courts Regional courts District courts Legal professions: lawyers, notaries Companies & Institutions: e.g. banks, Insurance companies, institutions Citizens

IBM Global Business Services © Copyright BMJ, BMF, BRZG and IBM Corporation 2007 Ljubljana | March 21, e-Filing of Claims: Austrian Electronic Legal Communication (ELC)  Users - Lawyers, Notaries - Institutions, agencies - Banks, insurance companies  Electronic applications - 2,2 Mio eDocuments  85% of civil actions  60% of civil enforcement  Electronic court documents - 4,3 Mio eDeliveries - Savings in post fees: more than 2,9 Mio € (2005)

IBM Global Business Services © Copyright BMJ, BMF, BRZG and IBM Corporation 2007 Ljubljana | March 21, Example: Court publications notice boards in courts and newspapers before:

IBM Global Business Services © Copyright BMJ, BMF, BRZG and IBM Corporation 2007 Ljubljana | March 21, Court publications: e.g. announcement of auctions of real estate property (in enforcement or bankruptcy cases) today:

IBM Global Business Services © Copyright BMJ, BMF, BRZG and IBM Corporation 2007 Ljubljana | March 21, Query of Bankruptcy Edicts

IBM Global Business Services © Copyright BMJ, BMF, BRZG and IBM Corporation 2007 Ljubljana | March 21, Query of Bankruptcy Edicts: Case-Details

IBM Global Business Services © Copyright BMJ, BMF, BRZG and IBM Corporation 2007 Ljubljana | March 21, Publication of Court Edicts on the Internet  Full legal effect, no more paper-based publications  For all types of publications, e.g.: - Bankruptcy edicts - Court auctions (real estate and mobiles) - Publications from Commercial Register  95% cost savings compared to newspaper-advertisements: - From EUR 1.090,- to EUR 60,- for a typical bankruptcy case - Inquiry free of charges  Publications resulting from the normal court procedures are automatically published on the internet:

IBM Global Business Services © Copyright BMJ, BMF, BRZG and IBM Corporation 2007 Ljubljana | March 21, Business Benefits of Austrian Court Automation and its eGovernment Interfaces  Speeding up court proceedings - e.g. by avoiding keying of case information and automatic transfer between agencies - Automatic generation of court documents and decisions with just a few keystrokes  Improved service, better quality of case information provided - for parties (persons, companies) and their representatives  e.g. instructions for appeal, calculation of court fees to pay - for court officials: up to date working environment  Extended range of information using the internet - Court publications - Direct query of case information by lawyers  Reductions in costs and personnel

IBM Global Business Services © Copyright BMJ, BMF, BRZG and IBM Corporation 2007 Ljubljana | March 21, Key success factor is the efficient combination of judicial and technical knowledge and experience Austrian Court Automation Reusable parts of tech. solution Croatian Justice Austrian Justice Real experience required for success Integrated Court Management System

IBM Global Business Services © Copyright BMJ, BMF, BRZG and IBM Corporation 2007 Ljubljana | March 21, Recommendations  Use open standards, when defining interfaces between agencies: - XML „Extensible Markup Language“ for data definition - Web services  Design new componentized systems following the principles of a “service oriented architecture” (SOA)  Use experienced partners and a proven method for consulting, analysis, design and implementation Release Solution Outline Macro Design Micro Design Build Cycle Deployment

IBM Global Business Services © Copyright BMJ, BMF, BRZG and IBM Corporation 2007 Ljubljana | March 21, Summary  Expectations of the public - Proceedings to be carried out fair and fast  Expectations of court personnel - state of the art working conditions and support  Broad vision, when defining the goals - keep the whole thing in mind:  all case types, all courts and prosecution offices country-wide - strong organizational coordination  to synchronize legislative and technical changes - eGovernment interfaces and interoperability with parties, their representatives, agencies and institutions  Implementation and roll-out in steps