About the job

Job summary

Please refer to Job Description

Job description

Overview

HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) is an agency of the Ministry of Justice. We provide support for the legal system across England and Wales, along with non-devolved tribunals in Scotland and Northern Ireland, ensuring justice works for everyone.

Our Justice system defends our fundamental rights and freedoms. It is a cornerstone of our modern society. It protects some of the most vulnerable people in our communities, from families in crisis to claimants and commercial businesses. We have a responsibility to deliver a Justice system that is accessible to everyone and operates efficiently.

The key purpose of the role is to:

• Be responsible for the monitoring and progression of all criminal cases identified for case management from first appearance to disposal, ensuring that Trials proceed to completion without delay.
• Work with others to achieve a reduction in ineffective and cracked trials both nationally and locally to meet national targets. The Case Progression Officer reports to the Delivery Manager and will also monitor effective trial rates to ensure that Court Room utilisation targets are met and improved.
• Apply Continuous Improvement principles, tools and techniques to working practices to improve efficiency of operations.

Essential Skills & Criteria:

• Strong customer focus and service skills
• Experience of delivering a qualify service
• Proficient with IT and Microsoft Software packages
• Excellent communication and organisational skills
• Ability to effectively manage key stakeholder relationships

Key responsibilities:

Administration

• To monitor, compile and analyse case progression and performance data as required and to prepare reports.
• Use data to review case progression processes and structures to identify failure in systems, trends and propose improved ways of working to effect change.
• To support the Legal Advisers, Magistrates, District Judges, Crown Court clerks and Judiciary in the implementation of their case management roles.
• To review systems, identify weaknesses and work with others in the Criminal Justice System (CJS) to improve processes and to highlight to Senior Management when issues of compliance to directions are highlighted and to take remedial action as appropriate or make recommendations to Senior Management for improvements.
• To ensure compliance with the Case Progression Officer Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) and to work closely with the Court Administrative Teams and the Case Management Units to ensure that best practice is adopted and followed.

Operations

• To capture case progression data from courts and other Agencies.
• To work with others to reduce and prevent ineffective and cracked trials.
• To work with others to improve the effective trial rate statistics.
• To case manage contested criminal proceedings and ensure compliance by parties of directions made by the Court.
• To be a point of contact for all requests to vary directions and/or applications for adjournment, working closely with the Listing Officer.
• To check with all appropriate parties as to readiness for hearings as directed.
• Prepare Certificates of Readiness for distribution 28 days before trial date.
• To monitor return of Plea and Case Management Hearing (PCMH) forms 14 days before hearing and chase any outstanding.
• To identify and review old cases and initiate action to progress them.
• To attend Pre Trial-Review (PTR) / PCMH Courts when required to advise on case management issues.
• To prepare distribute and monitor automatic direction and PCMH Forms.
• To refer problems with pre-trial preparation to List Officer / Judiciary as appropriate.
• Monitor and proactively report on HMCTS assurance programme and contribute to ongoing development.
• Represent the function you have been assigned to at an operational level and deputise for the Delivery Manager, as necessary.
• Apply Continuous Improvement principles, tools and techniques to working practices to improve efficiency of operations.

Team leadership

• Lead a team of staff ensuring that its members are organised, and fully skilled to meet their work objectives. Effectively managing both team and individual performance, addressing any issues as they arise, in line with HR

Processing and managing casework

• Work with staff to ensuring that casework is appropriately managed, providing information / advice where process deviations have occurred.

Calculations and analysis

• Identify and implement solutions to local problems, referring more complex problems to the line manager.

Communicating with the public, juries, the judiciary, other court and tribunal users and representatives of other agencies and organisations

• Maintain effective working relationships with the judiciary, supporting agencies, voluntary and user groups. Working with agencies to improve the level of service offered to users.
• Attend and contribute to court user group meetings, case progression meetings, Bench and Legal Adviser meetings, listing and administrative meetings as required.

Specialisms

• To have a working knowledge of functions undertaken within the Cluster, to support the development and review of policies and procedures.
• To provide specific functions as directed by line management in line with the SOP for providing that service.

Other duties

The post holder is required to work in a flexible way and undertake any other duties reasonably requested by line management which are commensurate with the grade and level of responsibility of this post.

Person specification

Please refer to Job Description

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £27,223, HM Courts and Tribunals Service contributes £7,377 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Things you need to know

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours and Strengths.https://justicejobs.tal.net/vx/candidate/cms/About%20the%20MOJ

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check. People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window). The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.