The Courts Service has only been in existence for just over three years, but already it has transformed how the courts are run.
They are no longer the responsibility of one of the many sections of the Department of Justice, answerable only to the minister, but are run by an independent board, with a publicly identified chief executive who must answer to the public and the Oireachtas.
The improvements are obvious to anyone in regular contact with the courts, though much remains to be done. The fabric of many of our old and historic courthouses has been restored and their facilities brought up to the highest standards. There is an information desk in the Four Courts, so that visitors can ask where to find a specific case, or, indeed, their own case, in that labyrinthine building. Increasingly, computerisation is allowing us an insight into how the courts work, and the volume and nature of cases processed each year. All that, and more, has been accomplished in three years.
In its second three-year strategic plan, launched earlier this week, the Courts Service sets out to build on this, to train staff, to ensure that family law cases are dealt with sensitively and separately, to continue the IT programme and use this technology more in court, and to further develop buildings and facilities. Part of this is the publication of a Customer Service Action Plan.
While many people who go to court may not see themselves as customers, they, as much as any other consumers, deserve to be treated with dignity whether they are litigants, defendants, witnesses or professionals whose services are required. Too often people unused to the business of the courts have found the whole experience bewildering and intimidating.
The Customer Service Action Plan aims to remedy that. It commits the Courts Service to publish a statement outlining the service everyone can expect, and display it prominently. It will ensure the right of all to equal treatment in line with equality legislation; it will ensure physical access for all; it will ensure people get information and are treated speedily and with courtesy; it will ensure that Irish-speakers can easily access every level of the courts; and it will foster more co-ordination in the delivery of public services. It also offers to deal with complaints, and have a formalised, accessible and simple appeals procedure for those dissatisfied with decisions from the service.
This is an ambitious plan, but, given the record of the Courts Service so far, there is no reason to think it cannot be met, so that a day in court can be an informative rather than a traumatic experience.