Ford welcomes CJINI follow-up report on Causeway System

Justice Minister David Ford welcomed today’s Criminal Justice Inspection Northern Ireland (CJINI) follow-up review on the Causeway data sharing mechanism.
~ Thursday, 2 February 2012

The Report acknowledges that the Causeway system has become an integral part of the criminal justice system, impacting on its effectiveness and efficiency, and that progress has been made on previous recommendations that fall within the remit of the Causeway team.

David Ford said: “I welcome this report from CJINI which demonstrates the positive working practices and benefits that Causeway has brought to partner agencies within the Criminal justice family.

“The follow-up review confirms that collaborative working between the Criminal Justice Organisations that participate in Causeway is beginning to deliver efficiencies, which in turn helps to improve accuracy and speed up the criminal justice process.

“Causeway has become an integral part of the criminal justice system and continues to deliver against stated benefits.”

Notes to editors:

1. The CJINI report “The Causeway Data Sharing Mechanism” was published on 2 February. This short report is an update of two previous reports into the Causeway data sharing mechanism. The report considers how the Causeway system has progressed since the implementation of the second stage (DSM1) in November 2009. In doing so it also evaluated progress with previous CJI recommendations and examined the most recent Office of Government Commerce (OGC) Gateway 5 report into the Causeway system.
2. The report finds that the Causeway mechanism has now been operating on a stable platform since November 2009 and organisations are beginning to report on benefits accruing to them. Participating agencies had been required to work together to develop their business processes in tandem with each other to make electronic integration work across the system. Collaborative working is beginning to deliver efficiencies and is helping to improve accuracy as cases progress from one Criminal Justice Organisation (CJO) to another through the system.
3. The report makes no recommendations but has concluded that the Causeway system has become an integral part of the criminal justice system impacting on its effectiveness and efficiency. Inspectors will therefore continue to report on the Causeway system through future thematic inspections of the criminal justice system and relevant organisational inspections.
4. All media enquires should be directed to the Department of Justice Press Office on 028 9052 6444. Out of office hours please contact the duty press officer via pager number 07699 715440 and your call will be returned.

A copy of the CJINI Review Inspection Report on the Causeway Data Sharing Mechanism can be sourced at: http://www.cjini.org

A copy of the Causeway Office of Government Commerce (OGC) Gateway Five Report can be sourced at: http://www.dojni.gov.uk/index/ogc-gateway-5-report-causeway-operations-review-and-benefits-realisation.htm