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JUDICIARY OF THE FUTURE - Fiji Experience on Procedures and Policies

The Judicial Department as one of the three arms of the Government in the

Republic of Fiji is responsible for enhancing the quality of Justice in the

community with its vision to have an independent and impartial judicial system

and mission to ensure that it is accessible, efficient, effective and transparent. To

achieve such Judicial System, its core values guarantee due process and equal

protection of the law to all the litigants before Court and these values are made

explicit and public. These values also provide direction to courts and provide a

standard of principles for an appropriate functioning court. These are aligned to the

supreme law of the Republic of Fiji and that is the Constitution.

Its values such as good governance that is to have an accountable and responsible

workforce; professionalism to have integrity that includes the transparency and

propriety of the process, the decision, and the decision maker; timeliness reflects a

balance between the time required to properly obtain, present, and weigh the

evidence, law, and arguments, and unreasonable delay. Professionalism is set to

also be honest, courteous and committed; Equity to give equal treatment, fairness

and impartiality set the standards by which courts conduct themselves; Excellent

customer service set to be responsive and on time service delivery; People Capital

Development for capacity building as per the organizational needs for the judicial

and non-judicial officers; Innovation and Creativity to develop, initiate and generate

new ideas for growth; Safe and Healthy work Environment to a commitment to

protecting the health and safety of the employees, customers and natural

environment; lastly Exemplary Leadership and Teamwork set to have visionary

leaders who celebrate values and victories through creating a spirit of community.

The Vision, Mission and Values of the Judicial Department are established through

wide consultation and involvement of all the Registry Managers during the

formulation of the Department’s Strategic Plan, the Annual Corporate Plan and

again the development of the Business Plan at the Divisional Heads Meetings.

Figure 1 2015 Divisional Heads Meeting at Tokatoka Resort

The hierarchy of the Fiji Judiciary is the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeal, the

High Courts and the Magistrate’s Courts. The Small Claims Tribunal is for the

settlement of a dispute below $5000 and will be presided over by a Referee. Various

other Tribunals such as the Central Agricultural Tribunal, the Court of Review

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Land Transport Authority Tribunal, and Liquor Tribunal are presided by the

relevant Resident Magistrates.

The Supreme Court is the final appeal court in Fiji. It has exclusive jurisdiction,

subject to such requirements as may be prescribed, as and when the need arises to

hear and determine appeals from the Court of Appeal. It has power to review, vary,

set aside or affirm decisions or orders from the Court of Appeal and may make

such orders (including an order for a new trial and an order for award of costs) as

are necessary for the administration of justice. The Supreme Court may review any

judgment, pronouncement or order made by it. Its decisions are binding on all the

Courts of the State.

The Court of Appeal is the intermediate appeal court. It has jurisdiction, to hear

and determine appeals from the High Court, and has such other jurisdictions as

conferred on it by law.

The High Court has unlimited original jurisdiction to hear and determine any civil

or criminal proceedings under any law and such other original jurisdiction as is

conferred on it under the Law. It also has original jurisdiction in any matter arising

under our Constitution or involving its interpretation. It is the Court of Disputed

Returns in matters affecting elections to Parliament. Further, it has jurisdiction to

hear and determine appeals from the Magistrates’ courts.

The Magistrate’s Courts are established under the Magistrate’s Courts Act (Chapter

14). In Civil proceedings a Magistrate’s Court has jurisdiction to hear all Contract

or Tort claims where the amount claimed does not exceed $50,000.00. Proceedings

allowed under these Courts can be those involved between the Landlord and

Tenant where the annual rent of property does not exceed $2,000.00. If the amount

in dispute exceeds these limits, a Magistrate’s Court may nonetheless hear the case

if the parties consent to limit the claim up to $50,000. In the exercise of their

Criminal jurisdiction, Magistrate’s Courts have all the powers and jurisdiction

conferred on them by the Criminal Procedure Decree, the Magistrate’s Courts Act

or any other law for time being in force.

The Small Claims Tribunal has jurisdiction in respect of any civil claims with a

monetary ceiling of $5,000.00. It does not have the jurisdiction to hear disputes

involving titles to or possession of land. The Small Claims Tribunal is headed by a

Referee and determination of a particular matter will be made as the Referee thinks

fit. No lawyers are allowed to appear in Small Claims Tribunal.

The Central Agricultural Tribunal has jurisdiction to hear appeals where a

Landlord or a Tenant is aggrieved by an award, order or certificate of Agricultural

Tribunal made or issued under the provisions of the Agricultural Landlord and

Tenant Act, Cap.270.

The Family Court Division in Fiji is presided over by a Judge and Magistrates. It is

vested with jurisdiction under the Family Law Act 2003. The Family Court of the

Fiji Islands officially opened on 31st October, 2005. The Family Law Act 2003 came

into effect on 1 November, 2005.

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Family Court deals with family matters only, such as Application for Order of

Nullity (nullify the marriage), Application for Declaration as to Validity, Dissolution

of Marriage (Divorce), Maintenance & Contribution applications, matrimonial

property distribution between the parties, residence/contact issues in relation to

children, absconding warrant application in order to stop a party from leaving the

Country prior to finalization of the matter, Recovery Order application for

recovering a child(ren), Contempt applications when a party breaches a Court

Order, enforcement of maintenance orders. Interim applications are also made in

respect of some of the substantive matters. Counseling is also part of the service

provided by the Family Court. It is headed by Director Court Counseling and offers

services free of charges. It also becomes an integral part of a proceeding when it

comes to children’s issues.

The Family and Juvenile courts provides counseling in family and juvenile cases.

The High Court Library provides library services for Judicial Officers, court

administrators and lawyers.

Pertinent court rooms are equipped with audio visual and video conferencing

technologies. There is continuous improvement to the courtroom facilities which

can be vividly seen in the progress of renovations being carried out throughout the

government buildings.

The key Organisational directions of the Judicial Department are to:

1. Improve access to justice and judicial services;

2. Ensure effective assistance in the delivery of Justice in an expeditious and timely manner;

3. Provide high quality Court Systems to support the delivery of Justice; 4. Provide accurate and timely Ministerial advice to uphold the Rule of Law; 5. Provide a well-informed Judiciary to sustain Public confidence; 6. Ensure good governance and professionalism; and 7. Encourage Leadership, Teamwork and Service Delivery.

Judicial department regards trainings, workshops, conferences and meetings at all

levels as imperative or integral components to promote legal and ethical behaviour

within the workforce and to ensure not only that the aforementioned values are

upheld and taken seriously, but also the judiciary, the leaders, managers, support

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staffs, administration are up to par and their performance are aligned with the

current judiciary and judiciary of the future.

Case management system is currently being used in the High Courts and plans are

also in place to implement the system in all other Courts and Tribunal, in order to

have full-featured, robust system that automates and tracks all aspects of a case

life cycle from initial filing through disposition and appeal as to each individual

party for Criminal, Juvenile, Minor Offenses (Traffic offences), Civil and Small

Claims. The system would also track the performance of the judicial officers and

work on the opportunities for improvement to fill the performance gap. It would

also allow proactive approach towards potential challenges or problems.

The system is also being piloted in the Suva Magistrates’ Court and once it is

finalized for full implementation, the rest of the Magistrate’s Court registries, Fiji-

wide, will be using this Case Management System.

The department also utilizes trainings, workshops, conferences and meetings at all

levels to attract and encourage innovative and creative ideas from the judicial and

non-judicial officers, administrative and IT officers to create new procedures,

enhance the current standard operating procedures andupgrading of our IT

equipment and infrastructure.

These include technology driven approaches, for example, the Vodafone M-paisa

service, electronically maintenance money/monetary relief fund is transferred into

the payees M-paisa accounts which saved the department’s and most importantly

the customers’ time and resources in cash payment over the counter. Additionally,

it would also be safe to say that this initiative has completely eradicated

misappropriation of maintenance imprest fund.

This approach to use the M-Paisa has improved the process thus the integrity of

the department is maintained. The trend is favourable and in comparison to the

past record the result has improved.

The department has installed the audio and video recording system in most of the

Courts and it is working to integrate the database applications on a network and

improve the efficiency of the Department by networking the entire judiciary and to

utilize the latest IT and digital recording systems and programmes that can

automatically transcribe the audio recordings. This would not only decrease in the

turnaround time of case disposal, but will also increase the return on investment,

reduction of communication cost, and improvements in efficiency to provide

adequate customer satisfaction.

2 3

1 2

0 0

0

2

4

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

MAINTENANCE MISAPPROPRIATION CASES

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Might not be enough but the department also contributes towards saving the

environment by providing majority of the staff with the govnet email addresses so

that there is less paperwork. Hence the mode of communication is mostly emails

and the department is already working on getting govnet account for the whole

workforce at all the levels.

The department has its own Leave Management System and Leave Database,

whereby online leave applications are made by the staff and again there is no

paperwork. The IT staff are already working on developing online assessment

database, whereby all the performance assessments would be done online, and

once again there will be no paperwork. In addition, we are looking at 700 staff in

the department and that means 1000s of paperwork is saved. This approach has

and will be saving a lot of resources, as well as contribute towards saving the

environment.

In order to gain experience the department has sent IT Officers to India, China and

Singapore for trainings, so that they return with better knowledge, skills and ideas

to innovate and improve the systems in Fiji.

The table below shows the number of relevant training (number of sessions

conducted in Fiji) provided by the Department:

CATEGORY 2014 2015

Judicial Officers 3 3

Support Staff 14 21

Legal Practitioners 0 2

TOTAL 17 26

Figure 2Judicial Officers Training

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Figure 3 Panel of Judicial Officers for the Support Staff Training

Figure 4Chief Magistrate presenting at a workshop for the Support Staff

Figure 5 Justice of the Peace& Commissioners for Oaths are trained by the Department

The department has the Legal Practitioners Unit that is headed by the Chief

Registrar. It deals with the registration, issuing Practicing Certificates and it also

investigates complaints and upon sufficient evidence it prosecutes the legal

practitioners before the Independent Legal Commission. To ensure that it does not

reach the latter stage, the department organizes trainings for the Legal

Practitioners as well. This provides them with knowledge, skills and attitude to

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deliver satisfactory services to their clients and at the same time uphold the ethical

values. The Justices of the Peace and Commissioners for Oaths are also trained by

the Department to ensure that proper procedures are followed when they serve the

members of public in witnessing and certifying documents.

Figure 6 Judicial Officers & Legal Practitioners provided mediation training by SMC

Time management is practiced at all levels of the judiciary and the Court support

staff. Time limitations in the postponement of court sessions, effective scheduling

methods for court sessions, case management and alternative dispute resolution

techniques are used to efficiently deliver justice to the people.

Pre-trial Conference and Case Assessment Conference and Conciliations are held to

resolve the matters before they reach Court, thus this ADR technique is used to

accelerate the conclusion of matters with least costs. In the Family Courts the

Registrars conduct the assessments/conciliations.

In most of the Court Registries [Fiji-wide], the department is moving away from

manual time registers to bio-metric and time machines; to enhance the security in

the premises, to monitor punctually and to eradicate tardiness.

As part of the Judicial Reform and the department’s mission on accessibility, it has

several projects for transformation of the accommodation for the hearing of cases,

for example, initially there were only three Small Claims Tribunal in whole of Fiji

(Suva, Lautoka and Labasa) and now it has 14 Fiji-wide (all the jurisdictions).

TIMEFRAME NO. OF SCT OPENED

BEGINNING-2011 3 [Suva, Lautoka & Labasa]

2012 7 [Navua, Sigatoka, Nadi, Ba, Tavua, Rakiraki & Nabouwalu]

2013 4 [Tailevu, Nausori, Nasinu & Vunidawa]

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Figure 7 Hon. Chief Justice at the launching of SCT in Nausori

The Island Court sitting was increased to 4 sessions in a year, and this year two

more islands have been added to the circuit of 10 for the Lau group sittings, in

addition to Kadavu Island sittings. This is in order to provide access of justice to

more people on the islands and by cutting their travelling costs for coming all the

way to other islands for the sittings. There will be more awareness to these people

on the islands.

Figure 8 Island Court Route (2 more islands added (in red)

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Figure 9 Island Court – Moala

Figure 10 Island Court –Gau

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Figure 11 Awareness – roadshow

Figure 12 Radio Talk-back Show

Further access is provided with the user-friendly Judiciary website, which has high

level of virtual accessibility on relevant information about all the Courts and

tribunals in Fiji, including briefly detailed procedures and with the

answers/information on the commonly/ frequently asked questions. It also has the

judgments of the respective cases from the High Court and publications, including

Court forms. It has a contact link through which the customers could provide

feedback or communicate with the respective registry managers.

For a month, the website has average of:

3369 Visitors

18,07 Returning Visitors

1562 New Visitors

3.55 minutes average session (each Visit) duration

9830 Page views on the website.

These visits are made from various countries.

http://www.judiciary.gov.fj/

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It closely works with its stakeholders to achieve common goals by implementing

viable projects. For example, currently Judicial department is working with the

Land Transport Authority by sharing the LTA database to update the status quo of

the cases and allowing the authority to collect fines as well, thus the government

revenue and at the same time reducing the arrears of revenue of the government

and increasing the disposal rate. Around 40-60% of the Traffic Infringement Notices

[unregistered/new ones] are paid within 21 days from the date of the booking

thereby a lot of resources are saved. Hence without the access to the database, this

40-60% would have been registered. For the TINs, which were already registered,

30-60% are removed and marked as disposed [completely] and this is a good result.

Currently the draft MOU has been sent for final vetting and once that is approved

by the Solicitor General’s Office, MOU would be signed.

The department listens to customers to obtain actionable information by counter

assistance, telephone or email queries, suggestion box, Customer Feedback Survey

Questionnaire, Judicial website through the contact link and written complaints to

ascertain whether people are satisfied with the services provided with and the feel

that they are being involved. This approach also allows the judiciary to make

improvements and to have innovative ideas to further enhance service delivery for

the future. The 2014 and 2015 results obtained from the respective Court registries

Fiji-wide are commendable due to the fact that the customer satisfaction ratings

were mostly between 80% - 100%.

Furthermore, the department uses the tools/mechanisms like 5S methodology, 360

degree feedback and participates in Service Excellence programme, which uses the

Baldrige framework, to enhance the service delivery and productivity. In 2011, the

department participated in the SEA Programme and obtained the Commitment

Award and for three successive years it obtained the Achievement Award.

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Figure 13 Service Excellence Achievement Award - 2014, with the Hon. Prime Minister

In respect to the implementation of the 5S Methodology, external inspection is done

annually by the newly formed Judicial Department Monitoring & Evaluation Unit

and the internal inspection is done on a monthly basis by the selected officers of

the respective registries. This is to sustain the new order, thus improvements in

line with the tool. So far the results have been favourable with very little

opportunities for improvement. Just a few photographs to show the improvements

made through the 5S Methodology:

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BEFORE AFTER (improvements)

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Staff are even interviewed to gauge on the knowledge and skills they have on 5S

methodology and the training needs. This is to ensure that the new order is

sustained.

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In respect to the 360 Degree Feedback, which is something very new to the

workforce, the results are quite satisfactory. Initially there were teething problems,

however, improvements were made subsequently; the average rating given to the

supervisors improved from 84.74% for the year 2014 to 90.36% for the year 2015

[3rd quarter]; the lowest rating improved from 54.05% to 61.06%. In line with the

recommendations given by the Unit, training on Leadership Skills was organized

and that was outsourced to the University of the South Pacific.

Figure 14 USP Lecturer presenting on Leadership at the Divisional Heads Meeting

This step was taken to ensure that the supervisory level of the workforce are well

equipped with the required knowledge, skills and attitude, thereby result in better

performance and excellent leadership style that should also trickle down to the

subordinate staff, and consequently the whole workforce would perform better with

enhanced level of productivity and service delivery.

The forms used:

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360 Degree Feedback – …………………………………….

Respondent’s Position(Tick (√) where appropriate) Date of Appraisal: ..................................... Superior Peer Subordinate

Please read the questions then rate my performance in each area by giving your most honest score. The rating system is below. I will be available at my office if you require further clarification on anything in this questionnaire

4 Always 3 Often 2 Occasionally 1 Never

Capability Area

Capability Element

FQ No. Feedback Questions Score

AC

HIE

VEM

ENT

FOC

US

Initiative 1 Do I have a high level of initiative and motivation to achieve goals?

Decision making 2 Am I able to make tough decisions and exercise

sound judgment?

Follow up 3 Do I follow up decisions and maintain a focus on priorities?

Confronting

problems 4 Do I confront problems directly and promptly?

Flexibility 5 Am I flexible in adapting approaches to new demands and unforeseen circumstances?

PLA

NN

ING

&

DEC

ISIO

N M

AK

ING

Monitoring 6 Do I monitor the external and internal environments to identify critical relevant trends

and issues?

Strategising 7 Do I effectively use strategic and business planning processes to set direction and strategies?

Recognising Opportunities

8 Do I recognise opportunities and translate these into working proposals?

Planning 9 Do I effectively plan and manage projects and projects teams?

PER

FOR

MA

NC

E

MA

NA

GEM

ENT

&

IMP

RO

VEM

ENT

Focus 10 Do I have a clear focus on client needs and

expectations and actively seek and respond to feedback?

Quality Assurance

11 Do I ensure that quality assurance processes are in place?

Continuous Improvement

12 Do I foster an environment of continuous improvement?

Monitoring performance

13 Do I effectively monitor performance and use this to maintain on-going improvement?

BU

ILD

ING

REL

ATI

ON

SHIP

S

Develop and

sustain relationships

14 Do I develop and sustain productive relationships

for the organisation?

Strategic partnerships

15 Do I identify, critically assess and seize opportunities for strategic partnerships?

Building relationships

16 Do I build collaborative relationships within Judicial Department/Civil service and promote cooperative activity across functional boundaries?

Promoting values

17 Do I effectively promote and market Judicial Department’s values, programs and activities?

MA

NA

GIN

G C

HA

NG

E

Understand

change 18 Do I show understanding and can work with the

dynamics of the change process?

Challenge the culture

19 Am I attuned to the Department’s culture and can foster, adapt to, change and challenge the culture as appropriate?

Proactive – introduce change

20 Am I proactive in introducing change in a timely, appropriate manner?

Planning &

managing change

21 Do I effectively plan for and manage resources

needed to effect change?

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Consult staff 22 Do I effectively consult and involve staff and other relevant people in change processes?

LEA

DER

SHIP

Effective Delegation

23 Do I delegate duties effectively? 24 Do I let officers know what is expected of them

before they begin a task?

Effective Supervision

25 Do I supervise effectively?

Adaptability 26 Do I welcome new ideas and thoughts on work practises?

Decision Making 27 Do I make sound decisions?

28 Are my ways of ensuring proper work conduct appropriate?

29 Do I consider the impacts my decisions or actions have on you personally when ensuring proper work procedures?

30 Do I lead by example?

CO

MM

UN

ICA

TIO

N

Speaking 31 Do I speak clearly for you to hear and understand what I’m saying?

32 Do I present ideas and information in a well organized manner?

Listening 33 Do I show genuine interest in what you have to say?

Human Relations

34 Do you feel comfortable in approaching me for any issues?

35 Are you able to have a comfortable conversation with me at a social level?

Non-Verbal Behaviour

36 Do I use civil body language?

PER

SON

AL

EFFE

CTI

VEN

ESS

Feedback 37 Do I give positive feedbacks? Conduct 38 Do I show proper etiquette in the workplace? Time Management

39 Do I manage my work time effectively?

40 Do I ensure deadlines are met without putting undue pressure on workers?

41 Do I attend team and other meetings in a timely

fashion on a regular basis?

Motivation 42 Am I a motivated worker? Gathering information

43 When you request for information, do I give sufficient details that are on time?

Provision of assistance

44 Can I be counted on to help you with any difficulties you are facing?

Teamwork 45 When working in a group do I contribute enough towards our objective/aim?

46 Do I voluntarily share my ideas and thoughts on work-related issues?

Reliable 47 To what degree can I be depended on to keep my commitments?

The court system upholds the principles of equality, fairness and access while

protecting the dignity and rights of all members of the community and to achieve a

targeted outcome of maintaining Law and Order and to uphold the Rule of Law

effectively and efficiently.

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STATISTICS:

Cases Initiated:

SUP COA HCT FCT MCT-CC MCT-

TR SCT OR TR IS CT TOTAL

2011 19 228 3876 6327 17269 56441 6610 0 0 90770

2012 18 183 4256 8271 18283 61940 8250 113 176 101490

2013 28 209 4258 10889 17451 65705 9793 16 51 108400

2014 38 242 4395 10767 18798 55326 10372 40 120 10098

2015 [TILL Nov]

29 94 4227 11527 16743 42765 8064 758 67 84274

Cases Disposed:

19 18 28 38 29

228

183 209

242

94

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 (till Nov)

SUP

COA

0

10000

20000

30000

40000

50000

60000

70000

2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 (till Nov.)

HCT

FCT

MCT-CC

MCT-TR

SCT

OR TR

IS CT

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SUP COA HCT FCT MCT-CC MCT-TR SCT OR TR IS CT TOTAL

2011 24 124 3636 6628 15050 49336 6739 0 11 81548

2012 29 100 3870 7922 16071 33076 8414 74 127 69683

2013 25 98 3899 10473 16306 36560 9673 108 71 77213

2014 17 141 4471 10454 15779 46931 10565 135 68 88561

2015 (till Nov.)

35 94 4244 10689 17286 49268 8224 26 147 90013

KEY: SUP -Supreme Court COA - Court of Appeal HCT - High Court FCT - Family Court MCT-CC -Magistrates’ Court Civil & Criminal MCT-TR - Magistrates Court – Traffic cases SCT - Small Claims Tribunal OR TR - Other Tribunals IS CT - Island Court (Lau, Kadavu&Rotuma)

24 29 25 17

35

124

100 98

141

94

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 (till Nov)

SUP

COA

0

10000

20000

30000

40000

50000

60000

2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 (till Nov.)

HCT

FCT

MCT-CC

MCT-TR

SCT

OR TR

IS CT

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The plans and projects in place are to promote good and just governance,

enhancing public sector efficiency, performance effectiveness and service delivery

including contributing to the reduction of poverty.

The Fiji Mediation Centre was launched last year to enable the interested parties to

utilize the service and avoid the stress of going to Court and incurring more costs.

Figure 15 Launching by the Honourable Chief Justice

The fees assigned for certain documents in the respective Courts are quite

reasonable and there are also opportunities for the litigants, who cannot afford the

fees, to seek exemption of fees through Statutory Declaration. This is quite common

in the Family Court Divisions, and the Family Court Rules allow the Registrars to

waive the fees either partially or fully or even defer the payment. The amendment of

the Family Law Act allows or gives the right to the defacto partners to claim

maintenance and apply for property distribution. Unlike before a party cannot

claim maintenance or property distribution despite living in a defacto relationship

for years. This was seen unfair, but now system has improved.

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Apart from the work processes, the Department also looks into the safety and

wellness of the workforce, in addition to healthy work environment. It has trained

Fire Wardens and First Aiders. It has trained representatives in the OHS

Committees.

Figure 16 Fire Warden -Practical

Figure 17 First Aiders Practical

Every Wednesday from 3:30pm to 4:30pm the staff are given time to walk and

participate in sports and this approach is taken to keep the staff fit and healthy.

Annual Sports Day is held on the 8th or 9th month of the year. This is to give

everyone a break and opportunity to meet the staff, including the Judicial Officers

from other divisions. Medical screening of the staff is also facilitated through the

Ministry of Health.

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Figure 18 2015 Sports Day in Labasa Figure 19Medical Screening

Figure 20 Walk-a-thon to fundraise for Sports

The department also goes beyond its core function by providing donations

[including blood donations] to the poor, charitable organizations, hospitals and

even conducts clean-up campaigns.

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Figure 21 Blood donation Figure 22 Donation to the senior citizens

Figure 23 Clean-up Campaign Figure 24 Donation - Children's Hospital CWM

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Figure 25 Foreshore Clean-up

The Judicial Department in the Republic of Fiji looks at all the major aspects,

factorsand contributors involved within the department. It provides the workforce

with safe and healthy environment, trains the workforce to be up to par with the

work requirements at all the levels, it encourages innovation and experiments new

procedures, mechanisms and policies, it encourages and upholds the ethical values

at all the levels of the workforce, and ensures that the positive results/outputs are

sustained, in order to provide a better, improved and satisfactory services to the

expectations of the users and general public.

Yohan Liyanage

Chief Registrar of Judicial Department Fiji