AIMS AND OUTCOMES

Aims
This module has eight primary aims. These are to
1. introduce the concept of legal records management for courts of law, police forces and public
prosecutors in a common law legal system
2. identify the importance of legal records management, in particular how and why legal records
support the political system and contribute to overall government accountability
3. locate both general and specific regulatory controls for legal records
4. explain the management of records of courts of law, police forces and public prosecutors, including
discussion of filing and numbering systems, arrangement of records and management of indexes
5. apply the processes involved with appraisal and preservation of and access to legal records
6. gain management support for legal records management programs and promote the record-
keeping responsibilities of all those involved in judicial processes
7. understand where to go to obtain more information about legal records management issues.

Outcomes
When you have completed this module, you will be able to
1. understand the concept of legal records management for courts of law, police forces and public
prosecutors in a common law legal system
2. identify the importance of legal records management, in particular how and why legal records
support the political system and contribute to overall government accountability
3. understand basic legal principles and terminology relevant to a common law legal system
4. locate both general and specific regulatory controls for legal records
5. explain the management of records of courts of law, police forces and public prosecutors, including
discussion of filing and numbering systems, arrangement of records and management of indexes
6. apply the processes involved with appraisal and preservation of and access to legal records
7. gain management support for legal records management programs and promote the record-
keeping responsibilities of all those involved in judicial processes
8. know how to obtain more information or conduct research into legal records management topics.

METHOD OF STUDY AND ASSESSMENT

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Managing Legal Records consists of eight lessons:
Lesson 1: The Context of Legal Records Management
Lesson 2: Managing Legal Records: An Overview
Lesson 3: Automation and Legal Records Management
Lesson 4: Policy Issues
Lesson 5: What to Do Next?

LESSON 1
The Context of Legal Records Management
While all records can be used as evidence, and so have a legal value, some records are generated
specifically from the legal process: from the work of the courts, the police and public prosecutors.
This module outlines the care of those records created by the institutions of the judiciary, police
and public prosecutors.
Lesson 1 introduces the concept of legal records and discusses the importance of efficient and
careful management of these records throughout their life. It considers the following issues:
 the importance of caring for legal records
 challenges in managing legal records
 the nature of legal records
 the nature of the common law system
 key legal terminology.

THE IMPORTANCE OF CARING FOR LEGAL RECORDS

The word ‘record’ has a legal origin, as noted by the author Ole Kolsrud, who wrote that ‘in medieval
Latin recordum meant the testimony of a witness, and thus a record came to mean a text of
evidential weight’.1 Records by their very nature provide proof of the activities of organisations or
persons within a society. Thus records serve as evidence of the rights and obligations of
individuals, organisations and governments. Records enforce and support the agency’s laws or
binding rules. Thus it can be argued that the law is a fundamental part of all record-keeping
activities. Regardless of the specific legal system in place, records document activities and so may
serve as admissible evidence in a court of law.
Within a legal context, records serve several functions.
 They support legal rights and obligations within the legal system.
 They provides evidence or proof that a particular activity took place.
 They contribute to accountability in organisations and in government.
Records are fundamental to the efficient and effective operation of the legal system of a country
and perhaps are even more crucial to the administration of law than to any other function of the
public sector. Not only are current records in daily use for legal reasons, but records of previous

1
Ole Kolsrud, ‘Developments in Archival Theory’, Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science, 61,
Supplement 24, 1998, p. 92.

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actions are also routinely retrieved and used by a range of legal agencies. If the police force cannot
find the previous records of a habitual criminal before he or she is brought to trial, the criminal
may be sentenced as a first-time offender, possibly endangering the public in future when he or
she is free to reoffend. Similarly, if court staff cannot locate the case papers relating to a trial, an
appeal against conviction may be delayed, even indefinitely, and justice may not be done to a
citizen who was wrongly convicted.

Within a legal context, records support legal rights and

obligations, provide evidence and contribute to accountability.

If legal records are not created, maintained and made accessible, governments and citizens may
be unable to enforce their rights. Consider the following examples.
 A prosecution case may not be able to proceed because the records have been kept in the
office of an employee of the prosecutor and were inadvertently not linked into the process of
issuing summonses.
 The judicial system may fail to bring justice in criminal actions if evidence is not presented that
is reliable and authentic.
 Citizens enquiring about the status of their case may have difficulties finding out the truth.
 The public will not have faith in its government if reliable records are not maintained.
In many countries, the public is more and more concerned that government be honest and
accountable; good record keeping within the legal system can help maintain a high level of
accountability. Business and international aid agencies are also concerned that their investments
go to countries with sound governments. An accountable and transparent legal system is good
evidence of a strong and honest government. Thus the need to built a trustworthy record-
keeping system for the judicial system is essential in any country, regardless of the legal system it
follows. It is important, however, not to forget that the ‘evidential’ characteristic of all records,
that is the authenticity of records over time, also supports their legal use as documentary evidence.
This principle is relevant to all record keeping, not just legal records as defined in this module.
Public sector legal records are best understood within the constitutional framework of the country
in question, whether that framework has been codified or operates by convention or tradition. The
constitutional framework of most countries provides for an independent judiciary and for the
principle of separation of powers: the parliament, the legislature and the judiciary are legally
separate so that each does not have the opportunity to exceed its given power. These principles
provide an added impetus for record keepers to ensure legal records are accurate and authentic;
not only do the records provide evidence of the functioning of legal institutions, but they also
document the responsibilities of the parliament, government and, ultimately, the citizenry of the
country.
The trustworthiness of legal institutions depends on the good care of their records, which results
in part from the high ethical standards of all players involved in the judicial process. In many
countries, high ethical standards are closely tied to the ideals of professionalism. Professionals will
be bound by their profession’s code of ethics to perform their duties with propriety and honesty.
Within professions such as the law, police enforcement and so on there is often a written
requirement, such as codes of ethics, standards or acts, that ensures the ethical behaviour of
practitioners. For example, in many countries, legal practitioners may have to abide by acts or
regulations of the jurisdiction in which they are registered; they may also be required to follow
written rules of conduct that guide their ethical behaviour and impose penalties for non-conformity.
Good record keeping is often a prerequisite or requirement of good conduct within the profession.

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 Activity 1
Think of three situations where public records would be needed to prove a legal claim in your
country. For each situation, write a brief explanation of where the record might be found within
the government’s record-keeping system.

KEY PRINCIPLES OF LEGAL RECORDS CARE

In general, all public sector records result from interactions between private citizens and official
authorities. In particular, legal records created or used by public sector agencies can affect the
rights and obligations of all parties involved. Thus the following principles must be recognised
when caring for legal records.

All public records can affect the rights and obligations of the
government and citizens.

EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 02

OPERATIONALIZING IN THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH THE PEOPLE’S CONSTITUTIONAL

RIGHT TO INFORMATION AND THE STATE POLICIES TO FULL PUBLIC DISCLOSURE
AND TRANSPARENCY IN THE PUBLIC SERVICE AND PROVIDING GUIDELINES
THEREFOR

WHEREAS, pursuant to Section 28, Article II of the 1987 Constitution, the State adopts and
implements a policy of full public disclosure of all its transactions involving public interest, subject
to reasonable conditions prescribed by law;

WHEREAS, Section 7, Article III of the Constitution guarantees the right of the people to
information on matters of public concern;

WHEREAS, the incorporation of this right in the Constitution is a recognition of the fundamental
role of free and open exchange of information in a democracy, meant to enhance transparency
and accountability in government official acts, transactions, or decisions;

WHEREAS, the Executive Branch recognizes the urgent need to operationalize these Constitutional
provisions;

WHEREAS, the President, under Section 17, Article VII of the Constitution, has control over all
executive departments, bureaus and offices, and the duty to ensure that the laws be faithfully
executed;

Challenges in Managing Legal Records

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The main challenges likely to be encountered when caring for legal records can be considered
under three headings:
1. the large quantity of records
2. pressures of work
3. the attitude of legal practitioners to ‘lay’ records managers.
Because records are basic to legal systems large volumes of records tend to accumulate after a
relatively short period. The first United Kingdom Act of Parliament to deal with public records, the
Public Record Office Act of 1838, was concerned with managing the enormous volumes of legal
records that had accumulated over time.
Practitioners within public sector legal institutions are generally well aware of the value of their
records. However, they tend to work under constant pressure and often feel they can do little
concrete to care for their records. The courts usually have a backlog of cases waiting to be heard;
the police and public prosecutors will be dealing with an ongoing caseload of crimes. Each of these
activities will result in records. And these records need to be cared for properly.

Legal records must be cared for in a professional fashion by

individuals well trained to manage the responsibilities involved.

Unfortunately, legal professionals, like medical and other professionals, often believe that only
someone who works in the profession can advise them about any matter relating to their area of
work. Therefore, although many of the general principles and practices of records management
can be applied to legal records, there may be a reluctance on the behalf of clients to accept this
advice from ‘lay’ records managers. Because of this common difficulty, one of the aims of this
module is to provide you with a basic introduction to legal systems and terms so that you can, at
least in part, speak a common language with your clients in the legal system.

Activity 2
Write a brief description of challenges you think might affect the care of legal records in your
organisation. See if you can speak with a records manager who works in a legal environment and
discuss the issues raised in this section with him or her.

THE NATURE OF LEGAL RECORDS

The institutions of law perform essential functions in society, including dispute prevention and
dispute resolution, by enforcing laws and ensuring breaches of the law are minimised. Legal
records are important to the practice of law itself.
In order to understand how to care for legal records, it is important first to clarify some
basic concepts concerning the legal system.

What Is a Legal System?

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Oxford English Dictionary as
the body of rules, whether formally enacted or customary, which a state or
community recognises as binding on its members or subjects; a system of such
rules, often defined by its source such as statute law or customary law. In English
law it refers to statute and common law.
The first, most basic type of law, is ‘natural law’: a product of reason, principles and rules to
promote peace in society. Osborn’s Concise Law Dictionary provides a range of definitions for the
concept of ‘law’, emanating from different philosophic standpoints, each of which distinguishes a
law, an obligatory rule of conduct, from the law, a body of principles recognised and applied by
the state in the administration of justice.
Natural law is what is considered reasonable and fair. For example you might be booked for
speeding because you exceeded the speed limit, but you were driving your sick mother to hospital
and you wanted to arrive as fast as possible. If the law is strictly applied you have breached it. If
natural law is applied your action was right and just.

The law is the body of rules that govern a society.

At its simplest, the law has been defined as ‘the enforceable body of rules that govern any society’.
For the law to function, there must be
 a number of rules (laws)
 a system to enforce obedience to these rules.
The rules, imposed and enforced by society, can identify who has power over persons and things
and how much power he or she has. When the state has developed a defined and consistent series
of rules of conduct, then it has achieved ‘positive law’. Positive law, also called ‘black-letter law’,
refers to the ‘rules in force in an actual legal system.’ Positive law is the law proper – the rules
such as legislation, the law formalised into codes and so on – as opposed to moral law.
Moral law plays an essential part in all societies. It depends on norms of a given society so that
some actions are considered ‘immoral’ or unacceptable and others are considered ‘moral’ or correct.
For example, to steal from a helpless person is considered in many societies as both immoral and
a breach of the law. Conflicts between natural, moral and positive law are likely to arise frequently
and will influence whether records are kept only because the law says they must be kept or because
the records document relationships between members of a community and so should be accessible
over time.

Types of Legal System

The law is administered through a ‘legal system’: a particular set of rules, principles, standards and
concepts used to guide legal decisions and actions within a specific jurisdiction. The term ‘legal
system’ is also used to refer to a particular legal structure, such as the British legal system, the
American legal system and so forth.
Legal systems have different ‘rule systems’ operating in different geographical and political areas.
Specific legal system, operate on the basis of rules that apply only within a particular geographic
area. The legal system in the United Kingdom does not apply directly to legal decisions in Ghana,
and the legal system in Malaysia has no direct bearing on the legal system in Fiji.

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 Legal systems will differ from country to country and region to
region depending on the realities of that geographic area.

However, it is important to note that legislation in many common law countries is modelled on
other common law countries. For example, Australia has adopted the UK evidence and copyright
legislation. Legal precedents from different common law countries are not binding on judges
making decisions in other countries; however it is common in Australia and New Zealand to cite
UK, American and Canadian decisions, and to be influenced by them. Although the rules may be
different, case law is affected by decisions from other jurisdictions. But for the purposes of this
module, it is necessary to understand that entire legal systems develop to suit the needs of one
particular country and are not adopted in whole from other jurisdictions.
The various legal institutions within a particular legal system each exercise, transmit or interpret
authority. They are bound together into one system by their common characteristics as the
ultimate sources of authority for that jurisdiction. This authority is based on the rules of law, which
each institution, and the society as a whole, accept as binding. The collective rules of law are
usually described as the ‘constitution’ of that system and that country. A formal constitution is not
necessary (indeed Britain does not have one); a legal system can be formalised without such a
document.
In a formalised legal system, the society recognises legal rules that are binding in the acts of the
government (usually through the parliament) or through the institutions that make and enforce the
laws. Disputes about how to interpret the laws are resolved by the judiciary, also known as the
courts or court system. In some legal and political systems the absolute binding nature of the law
dominates all legal decisions. In other systems a less rigid approach is followed, perhaps allowing
more interpretation of the law. The principles that bind the legal system, whether ‘positivist’ or
not, can affect the way in which records are kept, particularly those records needed for legal
purposes. Generally you will find that in societies with more highly developed laws, record-keeping
systems are more highly regulated. Societies that follow customs or traditions outside of a rigid
legal system will often have less stringent record-keeping systems.
Each country will have its own legal system. Some countries, including many of the countries listed
in Appendix 1, combine several systems of law; these are known as ‘pluralist’ systems . The main
systems of law found in countries around the world are
1. common law
2. civil law2
3. Islamic (Sharia) law
4. traditional, customary or tribal law.
Common law systems are based on the system that developed in England from the eleventh
century onwards, a system originally based on traditional customs. The system developed as
judges based their decisions on decisions taken in earlier cases on similar topics (known as
‘precedents’). This process of basing decisions on previous cases is known as ‘case law’ or ‘judge-
made law’; case law is different from the law written down in acts or statutes. Countries that use
common law systems usually also develop written statutes, but these statutes are only introduced
as the government sees a need for such legislation.

2
The use of the term ‘civil law’ when it relates to a system of law must be distinguished from the use of the
term within a primarily common law system when it relates to actions settled between individuals and those
considered as ‘crimes’. This is discussed later in the section on civil law and criminal law.

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 Common law systems are originally based on traditional
customs.

Unlike common law systems, civil law systems are based on a formalised code of law: a written
collection of statutes that define the legal processes of the jurisdiction. In civil law systems, judges
base their decisions on statute and not on precedent alone. Roman law and Roman-Dutch law are
examples of civil law systems.

Civil law systems are based on formalised codes of law.

Islamic (Sharia) law is a system of law wherein Islamic (or Cadi’s) courts have jurisdiction to deal
with such matters as family and inheritance law where the parties are Muslims. The Cadi (or Quadi)
is the judge in the Islamic court.
Traditional, customary or tribal laws are, as the names suggest, systems that have developed
during the earlier history of a country before there was any Western European influence on the
system of law. These types of laws are often enforced in traditional courts. In pluralist systems,
where more than one system of law is in place, it is common to find that minor civil and criminal
matters are dealt with by the traditional courts, and the person tried may have a right of appeal to
common or civil law courts.
While the legitimacy of civil, Islamic and traditional laws is recognised, it is not possible to outline
record-keeping requirements for such diverse legal systems. Thus, this module addresses record
keeping specifically in the context of the common law system.

Briefly discuss features of the common law that may have bearing on the nature and use of legal
records.

.
The Common Law System and Documentary Evidence

Before a common law system was formalised, a person would provide ‘evidence’ of his or her legal
obligations to another by making an oral testimony in front of witnesses, rather than writing a
document. As a centralised system of justice developed in England towards the end of the
thirteenth century, written documents began to be used for legal purposes. For example, sealed
writs were issued as title deeds, becoming one of the earliest forms of written legal records in that
country.

Documentary evidence is only one form of evidence presented in

a court of law.

However, written documents continued to be witnessed, verbally and visually; as well, laws were
‘proclaimed’ orally and summonses were delivered in person. As both oral and written evidence
continued to be accepted in court, documents served more as symbolic objects than as
documentary proof. A court record would memorialise an event in a ‘memory retaining object’

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such as a document, written after the event. The record was not created as a natural part of the
action in question.
The generic definition below is followed by two definitions from legal sources, to illustrate
differences in interpretation.

Evidence: Information or proof admitted into judicial

proceedings and relevant to a specific case to establish an
alleged or disputed fact.

Evidence is defined as data or proof to establish an alleged

or disputed fact, admitted into judicial proceedings and
relevant to a specific case. RA Brown, Documentary
Evidence in Australia, 2d ed (North Ryde, NSW, AUS: LBC
Information Services, 1996), p. 8.
Evidence consists of the testimony, hearsay, documents,
things and fact which a court will accept as evidence of the
facts in issue in a given case. JD Heydon, Cross on
Evidence, 5th ed (Sydney, AUS: Butterworths, 1996), p. 13.
The courts sought to find the truth of a matter by calling witnesses to establish something in court.
One needed a friend or neighbour to witness the truth of what you wanted to establish, and
contending parties each brought witnesses to swear to opposite things. This is the basis of the
‘rules of evidence’. Rules of evidence defined what was not admissible rather than what was
admissible. For example, evidence that could not be cross-examined was ruled inadmissible. Thus
a witness’s account of a statement made by someone else is ruled inadmissible because the person
who actually makes the statement cannot be cross-examined about it. This is ‘hearsay’.

Hearsay: A statement from a source other than the live

witness.
The English legal system considered direct evidence as the most reliable evidence. Direct evidence
was defined as live oral testimony of the witness as opposed to hearsay evidence, whether oral or
written. Documents were considered hearsay, which is why the courts traditionally excluded
documentary records as evidence as it was not possible to subject documents to cross-examination.
Exceptions to the hearsay rule allowed documents to be accepted as judicial evidence if certain
requirements were met.
Documents relevant to a case could be admitted into court by the following means.
1. Parties to a case could tender, or present, documents to the court.
2. A subpoena could be issued either to the adverse party or to a third party to produce documents
relating to the case.

Subpoena: A court order requiring the giving of evidence

or the production to the court of documents or both.
3. Search warrants could be issued or witnesses interrogated.
4. An order for discovery could be issued to one or both parties to produce documents; an order for
discovery may also be made against a person or body who is not a party to the proceedings.

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 Discovery: The process whereby parties to court
proceedings identify and disclose to each other documents
relevant to the issues in the proceedings.
Through the process of discovery, both parties to a legal proceeding are able to obtain from each
other a written list of documents that may be relevant to the case. Documents produced from
discovery may be admitted as evidence. It should be noted that one may be in contempt of court
if a document is destroyed before a subpoena is issued if it is clearly relevant to proceedings that
have commenced.

Activity 6
Briefly summarise the various ways records may be introduced into legal proceedings and how this
can affect records management.

The Classification of Law

The law can be classified into various categories.

The major classifications are public and private law; criminal and civil law; substantive and
procedural law; common law and equity law; and international and domestic law. This module
focuses mostly on criminal law but also offers an explanation of the other major type of law: civil
law.
It is important to note that the distinctions between criminal law and civil law are not rigid, and
the two types of law do overlap. Generally, civil law is more commonly used in common law
countries to encompass private law rather than the term ‘private law’, which is more commonly
used in civil law countries.
It has been convenient to sometimes use public law as an umbrella term for administrative and
constitutional law, including freedom of information legislation, and the laws that are relevant to
controls on government bodies. In the same way, civil law is a convenient way of contrasting it
with criminal law, where the state imposes harsh penalties for particular activities.
Civil Law
Civil law is concerned with individual’s legal rights and obligations in relation to other individuals.
In other words, civil law is concerned with disputes or issues that arise between private individuals
and in which the state has no interest. Civil law can also be considered ‘private law’, and it can be
divided into a number of branches, including the following.
1. Tort Law: Torts are wrongs done by one person to another that can result in the injured person
receiving compensation for his or her loss or injury. This is different from a ‘crime’, defined below.
Tort law deals with private disputes between individuals concerning injuries.
2. Contract Law: Contract law relates to legally binding agreements between people.
3. Property Law: Property law relates to the ownership and use of land.
4. Family Law: Family law relates to marriage, divorce, adoption and so on.

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5. Inheritance Law: Inheritance law relates to the transfer of property on the death of the owner.
Civil law is enforced in the civil courts; the court system
is discussed in more detail in Lesson 3.

Criminal Law
Criminal law is concerned with the state’s decision to punish the wrongful actions of an individual.
If a crime harms society as well as the person who has suffered loss or injury, the state considers
this a crime. Such criminal wrongs are enforced by public officials, including the police and public
prosecutors. Some crimes are also torts; that is, they injure the individual and can be prosecuted
in a civil court. The person who commits a wrongful act may be punished by the State in a criminal
court and may also be made to pay compensation to the victim in a civil court.
Three public-sector institutions can become involved in the administration of criminal law: the
criminal court, the police and the public prosecutor. The responsibilities these institutions have in
the enforcement of law are summarised in the table below.

Institution Main Responsibilities

Criminal Court  decide if a person has committed a criminal wrong (civil wrongs
are handled in civil court)
 decide the legal penalty if a person has committed a wrong
 rule on matters of law in relation to judicial proceedings
Police  investigate reported crimes
 arrest suspected offenders
 gather evidence
 conduct the prosecution of minor offences
Public Prosecutors  conduct the prosecution of major offences
 advise law officers, police and government departments about
criminal law matters

Courts, police and prosecutors operate within a particular ‘jurisdiction’. The term ‘jurisdiction refers
to the power of a particular court to hear a case; the term may also be used to identify those courts
with authority in particular matters. Jurisdiction is determined by factors such as the type of case
(whether civil or criminal), the amount of money involved, the location of dispute, the offence in
question, and so on. In Australia, for example, there are Commonwealth and State courts.
Commonwealth statutory law is vested in the High Court and in those federal courts created by the
Commonwealth Parliament, such as the Federal Court and the Family Court. In the same way that
state law does not cross state boundaries, neither does judicial precedent, except for High Court
rulings. An offence in one jurisdiction cannot necessarily serve as a precedent for action in another
jurisdiction.
The jurisdiction of a legal institution will affect the record-keeping systems that institution develops.
Specific courts will have their own legislation, rules and codes, each of which will regulate how the
court must proceed, what information must be recorded and how, and what documents can be
admitted as evidence. These rules are central to the creation, maintenance and disposition of the
courts’ records.
Court record-keeping systems are considered in Lesson 3.

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 Activity 3
Consider the responsibilities of the courts, police and public prosecutors listed above. Write a list
of as many records as you can think of that are likely to be created as a result of those
responsibilities.

SUMMARY
Lesson 1 has introduced the concepts involved with the law. It has noted that, while all records
can be used as evidence and so have a legal value, some records are generated specifically from
the legal process: from the work of the courts, the police and public prosecutors.
Lesson 1 has introduced the concept of legal records and discussed the importance of efficient and
careful management of these records throughout their life. It considered the following issues:
 the importance of caring for legal records
 key principles of legal records care
 challenges in managing legal records
 the nature of legal records
 the nature of the common law system
 key legal terminology.

LESSON 2
Managing Legal Records: An Overview
Lesson 2 provides a brief overview of the key issues involved with the care of legal records in
general; the lesson serves as an introduction to the more specific information presented in Lessons
3, 4 and 5. In particular, this lesson examines
1. legislative and regulatory controls on the care of legal records
2. establishing record-keeping standards
3. determining retention periods for legal records
4. ensuring appropriate preservation of and access to legal records.

It is necessary to conduct research to identify legislation or

regulations affecting the care of legal records.

Many countries have begun to maintain their legislation in electronic format, often for free through
the Internet. However there is still much commentary on the law that is only available
commercially. Printed legal sources are still compiled and found only in law libraries. Many superior
courts will have their own legal library.
The best approach to finding legislation and regulations is to use standard library tools, such as
 library catalogues
 the holdings of specialist libraries, such as a law library
 library subject guides
 CD-ROMS relevant to the subject area

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 Internet sites, particularly home pages of industry groups or relevant institutions
 publications produced by professional or industry groups
 government publications.

Establishing Record-keeping Standards

In order to ensure that legal records are well managed, many governments and organisations are
implementing records management standards. These standards ensure that records are cared for
in a systematic and planned fashion, according to the legal and administrative requirements of the
organisation or the government.

Record-keeping standards can improve the level of protection of

legal records.

Record-keeping standards can be applied to all areas of records care, but they can be especially
valuable when caring for records within a legal system. Regardless of the kinds of records being
managed, an organisation should ensure the following general standards are met.
 Is the record usable? That is, is it understandable, connected to a business transaction, and
created in such a way that its authenticity can be verified? Is it retrievable?
 Is the record reliable? Is the system used to create and keep the record capable of continuous
and reliable operation in accordance with responsible strategies for its implementation? If
records are converted from one format to another, do they remain reliable?
 Are the essential business activities of the organisation documented in records?
 Are the records full and accurate, so that they can facilitate action by employees and their
successors, allow a proper scrutiny of the organisation and protect the financial, legal and other
rights of the organisation, its clients and any other people affected by its actions and decisions?
To be full and accurate, records must be
1. compliant: records must comply with regulatory and accountability environment
2. adequate: records must provide good coverage of the activity
3. complete: records must include not only content information but also structural and contextual
information to identify how the record came to be, who was responsible and why the record was
created
4. meaningful: records must include all information necessary to understand correctly the event or
transaction being documented and to identify the record in the context of its broader functions and
activities (for example, the date of a transaction should always be part of a record)
5. comprehensive: the totality of records must document the complete range of the organisation’s
businesses
6. accurate: records must accurately reflect the transactions they document
7. authentic: it must be possible to prove that records are what they purport to be and that their
purported creators indeed did create them
8. inviolate: records must be securely maintained to prevent unauthorised access, alteration or
removal; changes or additions should be documented so that the integrity of electronic records is
maintained.

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 Activity 4
How do you think a system of case files of suspected criminals would need to be set up and
maintained to ensure the general record-keeping standards listed above are met and that the
records are ‘full and accurate’? Write a brief description of your ideas.

DETERMINING RETENTION PERIODS FOR LEGAL RECORDS

Retention periods must reflect not only the immediate administrative needs of the organisation but
also the wider needs of society for evidence and information about the organisation and its
activities. Retention periods will be established by analysis of the following:
 the general requirements of legislation, regulations and other statutory provisions
 statutes of limitation or other time limits on the pursuit of legal charges or appeal of those
charges
 the organisation’s policies and strategies for the acquisition and preservation of records
 the needs of stakeholders, including judges, lawyers, police commissioners, professional
records managers, archivists and future users.

Retention of Case Files

Case files are a core type of record in the legal system.

Case papers/files: Papers or files relating to a specific

action, event, person, place, project, or other subject. Also
known as dossiers, dockets, particular instance papers,
project files or transactional files.
Case files may be created by the police, courts or prosecutors. Decisions about the retention of
case files depend on a number of factors. Case files document the interaction between the accused
and judicial authority and provide the evidence of the decision in the case. They need to be
retained for as long as the accused has appeal rights and for as long as the court needs a precedent.
In addition, long-term retention depends on the functions the records perform, including evolution
of the judicial institutions and the needs of other members of the community. On a practical level
this is implemented through retention schedules that have been drawn up the basis of a number
of appraisal criteria including the records initial use and other uses in its context of creation and
the wider needs of collective memory. There should be appropriate triggers for disposal built into
the record-keeping system. For example:
‘Destroy x years after warrant for arrest or completion of sentence’.

Preservation

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Legal records must be protected physically to ensure they are available for administrative and legal
purposes and also for informational and research purposes. Preservation involves ensuring records
are safe from loss, damage or corruption. In particular, records must be protected from damage
by
 acidity
 fluctuating or excessively high or low temperature and relative humidity
 excessive exposure to light
 air pollution
 fire and water damage
 biological agents such as mould, mildew, insects or rodents
 abuse and mishandling
 disasters.
Various general measures to protect legal records, and all records, include
 monitoring and controlling temperature and relative humidity
 limiting light
 filtering air to reduce air pollution and removing pollutants from archives storage areas
 protecting archives from water damage
 inhibiting mould growth
 reducing attractions for insects or rodents
 protecting records from mishandling or abuse.

Because legal records, particularly case files, can be voluminous, organisations often look for ways
to reduce the quantity of materials in hand. It is also true that in many countries case files of the
courts have not been kept beyond their official use, often because of their great volume.
Sometimes only small samples have been preserved.
Microfilming has often been considered a valuable way to preserve information while saving space.
However, microfilming can be expensive, as can newer processes such as digital imaging. Costs
can be particularly high when preserving legal records by filming or digitising, because stringent
processes must be in place to ensure the records maintain their authenticity over time, in order to
remain admissible as evidence in a court of law.

When considering microfilming or digitising legal records, it is

essential to ensure that the records remain authentic and
reliable.

Therefore, when considering microfilming or digitising records, it is critical to ensure that the
records remain trustworthy. Even though computer storage can seem inexpensive compared with
the storage of paper records, considerable time and effort will be required to convert paper records
to digital format and preserve them so that they remain accessible and trustworthy.
It is wise to investigate all options for storage and preservation before considering digital
technologies. Preservation must be linked to a carefully developed retention policy.

Activity 4

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Identify three issues that might affect how you would develop a preservation policy in your
organisation for the protection of legal records. For example, do temperatures fluctuate
considerably in your geographic area? Are records stored in adequate facilities?

Developing an Access Policy

Access refers to the terms and conditions that allow a user to view records. An access policy should
be set by the organisation; this policy will be affected by the legislative or regulatory requirements
in place in that jurisdiction.
Most countries have developed statutory schemes within government to allow public access to
records. For example, older records may be accessible under the terms of the country’s archival
legislation. In many countries a thirty-year rule is in effect, which means that records over thirty
years old are usually publicly accessible. In many countries, records that are less than thirty years
old are accessible according to the terms of such legislation as freedom of information and privacy
laws.

Legal records often contain highly sensitive personal information,

and access to the records may have to be closely monitored.

Legal records are particularly sensitive and so are often managed in order to protect confidentiality
and legal professional privilege. In common law and in the codes of ethics of lawyers, the
communications between the lawyer and client are considered confidential; this ‘solicitor-client
privilege’ is a principle in English common law formally recognised by the courts since the sixteenth
century. Because of such confidentiality conditions, many legal records are often considered
privileged information under freedom of information legislation and so not generally accessible to
the public.

Activity 5
What is the policy of lawyers in your country concerning solicitor-client privilege? Write a brief
description of this and determine how it may affect access to legal records.

Protecting Personal Information

Whether or not they are governed by solicitor-client privilege, many legal records contain a great
deal of personal information. The protection of personal information has become important both
within a country and internationally as more and more personal data is exchanged within
organisations, around a city or country and across borders.
The right to privacy in relation to personal information principally involves controlling information
others hold about an identifiable individual. An individual should have a right to know how personal
data is collected, handled, stored, and reused, whether held in a database, a record-keeping system
or a network server. The individual should also have a right to access and correct inaccurate
personal information.

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In order to protect personal information, an organisation may establish systems that maintain
records of who has seen or has had access to personal information. An organisation may also
design record-keeping features to include rules on access exemptions and privacy protection.

QUESTION
Is there a privacy policy or legislation in your country? Write a brief description of how that policy
is applied to legal records in general. If there is no such policy, explain how personal information
is protected from misuse.

LESSON 3

Automation and Legal Records Management

This lesson discusses issues related to the automation of legal records, in particular
computerisation. It builds on the material set out in the two advanced modules, Automating
Records Management and Managing Electronic Records. Much of the material has a wider
relevance than simply to the three organisations covered in Lessons 3 to 5.
As with any system that handles large volumes of records, and in particular case files,
computerisation of some of all of the legal record-keeping systems described in this module has
obvious attractions. However, even in developed countries a large proportion of computer projects
fail to produce expected business improvements.

Computerisation is not effective if it is based on well-designed

manual systems.

It is a commonly stated principle of records management that computerisation of any records or

record-keeping system should not be attempted until the manual systems are as efficient as
possible. The main argument is that simply to computerise an inefficient system will not remove
those inefficiencies and may indeed make them worse. Despite commonly held assumptions to
the contrary, computerisation is not the panacea for every record-related problem. This is
particularly true if existing systems do not meet the information and records needs of the business.
As a senior executive in a major multinational expressed it:
OS + NT = COS
(Old System + New Technology = Costly Old System)
A computer should simply be considered as another problem-solving tool and should only be used
if doing so can be shown to improve efficiency and effectiveness. When approaching any problem,
you should first analyse the symptoms in relation to the underlying processes.
 Why does it take ten years for a case to come to appeal?
 Why is it that a large percentage of case files cannot be located when they are required?
 Why is it that when people come to pay fixed penalty traffic fines it is never possible to find
the police copy of the ‘ticket’?
The last instance occurred in an actual situation, when it was found that the traffic patrol’s extended
tours of duty in remote rural areas meant it took much longer than the time allowed for offenders

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to pay their fines. The tickets were still sitting in the patrol car long after they had been issued,
and so the police headquarters could not match the offenders payment to a ticket and confirm
payment. In this situation, computerisation would likely not have helped.
Having said that, computerisation has a great deal to offer the legal system. Speaking of the court
service in England and Wales, Lord Justice Saville said
So far as the courts are concerned computers and information technology might
have been invented for them, because the courts work from a system of
communication and information retrieval and computers can provide both these
things far better and quicker than any method that has yet been devised.3
Once it is decided to commence a computerisation project it is essential to avoid the error of
effectively ignoring the users. An effective information technology (IT) system cannot be designed
by technical experts working in isolation. As the US Center for Technology in Government (CTG)
has observed:
An organisation that becomes enamoured of a database or office automation project
without understanding how real people use information to accomplish real work is setting
itself up for failure.4

SPECIFIC AREAS FOR COMPUTERISATION

The first experience many public sector organisations have with computers is when word-
processing software applications are introduced to replace typewriters. This can provide clear
benefits for business processes and record keeping. For example, lengthy official documents such
as court judgements do not have to be retyped in full whenever an error is detected. In one high
court, a typical order or judgement was totally retyped six times. This introduced significant delays
into the legal process. In this example, the file tended to accompany the drafts as they travelled
between typists, court officials and judges; thus the file became increasingly difficult to trace.

Databases are excellent tools for managing case file information

and record indexing systems.

Given the dominance of name-related transactions, the use of databases as case or record indexing
systems has obvious advantages over a manual system. The benefits can be considerable given
the searching and indexing capabilities of databases. This type of system needs to be very carefully
planned using standard systems project methodology (see the two advanced modules referred to
earlier). A computer project should always be discontinued if it fails the requirements at any key
milestone.

3
Bill Mayon-White and Bernard Dyer, eds., From Mythology to Understanding as the Electronic Document
Comes of Age (London, UK: IDMA, 1996), p. 6.
4
Sharon S Dawes et al, Making Smart IT Choices. 1998. Available as a web document. url:
http://www.ctg.albany.edu/resources/.

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In many countries some or all of the actual processes of public sector legal organisations have
themselves been automated with many benefits. Other such systems are planned. Regarding the
courts in the United Kingdom, Lord Justice Woolf wrote in 1996:
As well as handling information about the progress of judicial cases, these court
systems can also handle allocation of the resources within courts, including the
scheduling of judges’ workloads and the listing of cases, including electronic
diarising and the timetabling of cases. As a valuable byproduct, management
information is created as well – about trends, costs, delays and types of cases
being processed.5
Many police forces and prosecuting authorities have automated or are in the process of automating
case management and other activities. Ideally, if records management functionality could be added
there would be no need to have separate automated records management systems. If this is not
feasible then an automated records management system could be introduced as an interim
measure. Consider the following two examples.
In Australia, a programme has been developed to automate the lodging of cases with the
magistrate’s court. This programme involves the electronic lodgement in the court of legal
documents from a solicitor’s office. For example, a civil complaint is sent to the court electronically
(via a modem link). The court case number and date of filing is registered and then sent to the
solicitor. The complaint can then be served on the defendant. There is provision for electronic
warrants to seize property and for electronic summonses. A records management system could
provide additional features, for example links to a business classification system.
In the United Kingdom, the police, crown prosecution service and the magistrate’s court have
piloted the electronic workflow of cases between the three agencies. 6 Copy statements and charge
sheets can be electronically passed from the police to the other agencies. Witness summonses
and other documents are automatically generated and transmitted.
Any major project presents a number of risks, particularly those involving the life-cycle
management of legal records in an electronic format and workflow systems. Such projects should
not be tackled without professional, independent technical advice and support.
In many countries of the world, the quality and reliability of electricity supplies should always be
assessed and taken account of in any computerisation project.

AUTOMATION AND RECORDS ISSUES

As a public sector legal organisation starts to automate its records, a number of issues become
increasingly relevant. The following are of particular importance:
 legal status of records
 security and user authentication
 copyright
 long-term preservation.

5
Access to Justice: Interim Report. 1995. Chapter 13. Available electronically at
http://www.open.gov.uk/lcd/civil/interim/chapter 13.htm.
6
‘Workflow can be described simply as the movement of documents and tasks through a business process.’
A DiCaterino et al, An Introduction to Workflow Management Systems (New York, NY: Center for
Technology in Government, 1997). Available electronically at http://www.ctg.albany.edu/resources.

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Legal Status
When records are created and retained in digital format or when paper records are captured
digitally, the question of legal admissibility of the record arises. It is particularly critical when the
records are likely to be used as evidence in a court of law. An example of this would be when the
police decide to scan in all the documentary exhibits in a fraud case.
Graham Smith, a lawyer with the London firm of solicitors ‘Bird and Bird’ and a person with a
particular interest in electronic records, has suggested that the evidential problems are often
exaggerated:
The courts have dealt for centuries with what is essentially imperfect evidence
– imperfect recollections of witnesses, paper which is an extremely unreliable
material – and yet when we get into information technology suddenly we get
into a mindset where if the thing is not 100% verifiable and 100% secure and
so on, then people seem to think it will be no use whatsoever. 7
Nevertheless, even if the problems are often exaggerated there are issues that must be considered.
One of these is ‘hearsay’. Documentary evidence that is being offered by a party to a case to prove
the truth of something is considered as ‘hearsay’ evidence. Hearsay evidence is normally
inadmissible but there are many exceptions. If a document is admissible that is not the end of the
matter. A judge will also consider the ‘weight’ of the evidence. (Weight and admissibility are
defined earlier in this module.) Graham Smith, the lawyer quoted above, has neatly summarised
for a lay person the difference between admissibility and weight:
Admissibility is getting the judge to read the document and weight is getting
him to take any notice of it.8
When considering an electronic document that has been created in that format (for example a
word-processed letter), a judge is likely to admit it, certainly in a civil case. The main issues will
arise in relation to the weight that will be given to it as evidence.
In considering what weight can be given to an electronic record as evidence the judge will be
concerned with the possibility of the document having been altered at some stage. It can be a
simple matter to amend an electronic document without this being apparent to a subsequent
reader. Because of this, the judge will be likely to investigate the reliability of the system to ensure
the reliability and authenticity of the records it generates.
It is therefore extremely important to follow accepted good practice when designing and using
such systems. Guidance on good practice has been developed in a number of countries. 9 Such
guidance is concerned with ensuring that
 the system is secure
 appropriate technologies are used
 the system complies with relevant legislation and regulations
 there is are clear written policies and procedures
 an audit trail and internal monitoring is established.

7
Mayon-White and Dyer, From Mythology to Understanding, p. 39.
8
Ibid., p. 41.
9
For example see the following: Center for Technology in Government. Practical Tools for Electronic
Records Management and Preservation (Albany, NY: CTG, 1999). See also PD0008 A Code of Practice for
Legal Admissibility and Evidential Weight of Information Stored Electronically. 2d ed. (London, UK: BSI,
1999).

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Other issues arise with electronic records created from paper records, for example by scanning.
Scanned documents are basically copies of an original paper record. Lawyers in common law
countries will be familiar with the so-called ‘best evidence’ rule (discussed earlier in this module).
This says that if an original document is available then a copy cannot be produced in evidence.
Another rule of evidence, which can be seen as an extension of this, states that if a copy of a
document is made and then a copy of a copy, at each stage it must be proved that the copy
accurately replicates its predecessor.
In some countries the law has been changed specifically to allow electronic records to be introduced
in evidence. For example, the United Kingdom Civil Evidence Act 1995 has removed some of the
obstacles to producing digital copy documents in evidence in civil cases in England and Wales. It
has also covers the issue of copies of copies (in Section 8(2)):
It is immaterial … how many removes there are between a copy and the
original.
The Canadian Uniform Electronic Evidence Act also addresses this area. It ‘replaces the search for
an ‘original’ record with the need to show the integrity of the record before the court. Integrity is
demonstrated by showing the integrity of the record-keeping system of which the record is part’. 10
An organisation, such as a police force, may consider scanning paper documents, perhaps if there
is pressure to reduce storage costs. If the records are likely to be used as evidence, lawyers in the
organisation concerned will need to consider which ones are likely to be challenged in respect of
their authenticity. At present, depending on the legal position in the country concerned, the best
advice is likely to be that if a document is likely to be challenged then the original should be
retained. Other legal documents that in the words of Professor Mickie Voges of Chicago-Kent
College of Law, ‘require a higher level of comfort’ should also be kept in their original format. 11
These include records that give title to land and such matters as chieftaincy rights.
This is of course not really an issue when documents are scanned to provide convenience copies
but the original is preserved. This has been done by the police and prosecution in criminal fraud
trials to allow easier access to voluminous exhibit by the judge, lawyers and the members of the
jury. If the copy is challenged it can always be checked against the original.

Security and User Authentication

Security is a major issue with legal records. As stated above, the system should be secure. The
data should also be secure. This becomes an increasing problem if the system is networked and
even more so if external modem links are in place.
If you receive an electronic document it may have a name attached as the claimed author. How
can the recipient be sure of its authenticity? If challenged, there is no signature for a handwriting
expert to validate. Much research has been done on the issue of authenticity and electronic
signatures, but again it is believed that until such methods are foolproof, organisations –
particularly those with limited resources – should be very conservative in decisions surrounding
electronic records, particularly in a legal environment.

10
John D Gregory, Electronic Legal Records: Pretty Good Authentication. Paper delivered to the 1997
Canadian Symposium ‘The Official Version: A National Summit to Solve the Problems of Authenticating,
Preserving and Citing Electronic Legal Information’. Available electronically at
http://www.callacbd.ca/summit/.
11
Mickie Voges, Paper delivered to the 1997 Canadian Symposium ‘The Official Version: A National
Summit to Solve the Problems of Authenticating, Preserving and Citing Electronic Legal Information’.
Available electronically at http://www.callacbd.ca/summit/.

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Copyright
As stated above, scanning a paper document and storing it in digital format is simply another form
of copying. There are no copyright problems when an organisation scans its own documents.
However, if the document is from an external source, and the author or copyright owner has not
given consent, this will normally infringe copyright.

Long-term Preservation
Electronic records must be retrievable and useable for as long as they are required. As has been
made clear in earlier lessons, the records of legal organisations such as the courts, police and
prosecutors are often retained for a long time. Many will be preserved permanently. It is therefore
essential to ensure that appropriate measures are taken to ensure their preservation. Records may
be lost because of deterioration in the storage media or obsolescence or deterioration of the
hardware and software. Unless it is possible to guarantee to preserve these valuable records for
as long is they are required (which often means permanently) it is not safe to move to a fully
automated electronic records and document management system.
It cannot be emphasised strongly enough, however, that the technology needed for scanning
records into a digital format and managing and preserving electronic records can be quite
sophisticated. The costs can become extremely high. There is a strong argument within the
records and archives professions that organisations should not consider scanning until they have
developed fully functional and manageable paper-based records management systems. This study
programme does not advocate scanning records until all other records systems are in place and
encourages organisations to adopt a conservative approach to the management of electronic
records until they can obtain the technical guidance, expertise and resources necessary to ensure
the records are well protected.

When considering automation, it is critical to take into account

the legal status of records, security, copyright and long-term
preservation.

THE FUTURE

The spread of new technology and the development within legal organisations has caused people
to question what were once thought to be fundamental principles such as the following.
 Does the work of courts actually need to be carried out in physical courtrooms with the parties
appearing in person? Video links are already being used to allow some witnesses to give
evidence and be cross-examined.
 Do lawyers need to present oral arguments in all cases?

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 Why is it not possible to report every case heard in the higher courts instead of just a selected
few?12
One thing that is certain is that the legal organisations in the twenty-first century will be radically
different to those of the late twentieth. Laywers from the late Victorian periods would probably
feel quite at home in many late twentieth-century courts. If they return at the end of the next
century they might think that they are on a different planet.

Activity 6
Find out if any legal records in your jurisdiction are managed electronically. Write a brief description
of how they are created, used and stored. If legal records are not created using computer
technologies, write a brief description of how you would develop a programme for creating and
managing legal records electronically.

SUMMARY

Whilst automation has many potential benefits in legal organisations there are also
many pitfalls that must be avoided. Projects may range from the introduction of
word-processing facilities to the full automation of business processes. With more
complex projects issues of legal status of the records, security, copyright and
preservation are likely to arise.
This module has introduced many of these issues and has urged a conservative
approach to electronic records management. Organisations must ensure they can
protect the authenticity and reliability of records before the proceed with
sophisticated automated processes.

LESSON 7

Policy Issues
Lesson 7 covers critical policy and management issues for legal records. Many of these issues have
been briefly covered in previous lessons because they underlie the successful implementation of
legal records management systems.

Responsibility for the creation, maintenance and disposition of legal records belongs not just to the
records manager but to all persons involved in judicial processes. Without the co-operation of all
those involved it will not be possible to ensure that accurate and reliable records are being created
and maintained. If the judges, police commissioners and public prosecutors are not convinced that
managing legal records is central to the effective operation of their institutions, no records
management system will be fully functional. It is therefore imperative to consult with all the

12
These and other issues are discusssed in the Lord Chancellor’s Department Consultation Paper, Resolving
and Avoiding Disputes in the Information Age (London, UK: HMSO, 1998). Available electronically at
http://www.open.gov.uk/lcd/.

Page 23 of 25
potential record creators and users, and in particular with senior administrators, when a record-
keeping system is set up for any legal institution.
Detailed knowledge of the structures, functions, and operation of the courts, police or public
prosecutor’s office (see Lessons, 3, 4 and 5), and fluency in legal terminology (Lessons 1 and 2)
should assist in communicating confidently with legal personnel about their record-keeping
requirements. It will help to convince them that there is a genuine need to create and maintain
records that will not only manage a case from its inception to its closure, but that it may be
necessary to refer to it at some later date either as a precedent, or for a retrial or appeal. The
records may also be needed by other courts or special courts, such as commissions of inquiry.
Discovery (introduced in Lesson 1) may be another legal issue to consider when you are reviewing
or setting up a record-keeping system. It is often used as a delaying tactic by the party requesting
the documents and disrupts operations in an organisation if the record-keeping system has poor
retrieval mechanisms.

Policy Frameworks
The management of legal records needs to operate within appropriate legislative and policy
frameworks. There may be little scope for flexibility as far as legislation is concerned. Policy may
also be set and may only be modified by operating within restricted options. Nevertheless, a
management strategy needs to be formulated that takes into account the existing legislative and
policy constraints.

Within the policy statement and associated procedures there is a need to

 clarify who has ultimate control of the records (an archival authority)
 establish a clear chain of records management responsibiltiy within the organisation that leads
from the most junior creator or recipient of records to the most senior officer (such as the chief
justice or police commissioner)
 ensure that the records and record-keeping systems can be used to
 demonstrate the accountability of the judicial institutions, that is, that as duly constituted
public bodies they have carried out the judicial processes fairly
 ensure the rights of all those involved in the judicial processes are protected and
enforceable
 comply with legal requirements for the creation and retention of records of judicial
institutions.
In Lesson 1, some general management problems that arise when working in a legal institution
were raised. They are all dependent on policy decisions and the involvement, or endorsement, of
senior managers. These include
 countering the negative attitude of legal practitioners to ‘lay’ records staff
 reducing work pressures in legal institutions that have a constant flow of new cases
(improvement in records management procedures can play a significant part)
 obtaining a constant supply of necessary resources (not only material resources such asas
paper and equipment but also sufficient appropriatelky qualified staff)
On the practical level, Lessons 3, 4, and 5 covered the need in a paper-based systems for effective
and co-ordinated management of the records throughout their life cycle. Issues include
 prompt and effective registration of cases and related documents

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 the need for records in each individual case to be kept together (such as in a file cover or
‘docket’)
 effective mechanisms (such as colour coding) for rapid retrieval of the right record
 control procedures that are applied wherever the records are in the system
 appropriate and secure storage of current case files (in centralised or decentralised areas
depending on local conditions)
 storage in appropriate environmental conditions
 retention according to retention schedules specifically developed for judicial institutions and
their functions.
Managers should be forcefully reminded that if ineffective records management practices cause
delay in the movement of records through the system this can have an extremely damaging effect.
There may be fixed deadlines in place, for example in submitting cases for prosecution or for the
initial hearing cases in court. Time periods may be triggered by ‘statutes of limitation’ that remove
certain rights to legal remedy after a certain date. For example an individual may need to start an
action for damages for a personal injury within a fixed period after the injury occured. The date a
trial commences, concludes, and sentence is passed are important for records control and
appraisal. They may be triggers for disposal and should be clearly recorded.
Finally, managers should be encouraged to play an active part in the control of records
management standards. This may include
 taking action on monthly or quarterly reports by the organisations’s record officer to senior
managers on the performance of records offices against any agreed action plan
 responding to feedback, including performance measures, from any control audits that have
taken place
 an agreed system of escalation of records management issues that leads, if any issue is
unresolved, to the most senior manager.

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