Judgment Enforcement Information System
Information & eGovernment Authority

A. Problem Analysis

 1. What was the problem before the implementation of the initiative?
1. Work environment arrangements Generally, the current arrangement of offices and sections inside the directorate does not serve the work procedures since obtaining any related service would require the customer/applicant to deal with multiple employees of the Execution Directorate, which leads to the risk of losing, damaging or tampering the content of documents; in addition to a reduction of employees productivity. 2. Paperwork processes Current procedures inside the directorate require the exchange of case physical file between the Court Archive Department, the judge along with various sections within the directorate. Such exchange results in the increase of the pre-mentioned risks. 3. Speed of Information Retrieval The current manual archiving of the case files increase the difficulty of reserving and retrieval of files. It is insufficient to maintain the documents’ secured. Furthermore, the longer the period takes of reviewing the files and the number of files increases; the process of archiving files becomes more complex. 4. Duplication of Data Entry The integration of data amongst electronic courts directorate system and the Execution Directorate is Partial Integration of data (case number and data of all involved parties) and the non-integrated data include details of the court judgment. During the phase of opening execution file, the directorate’s employee begins to enter the required data where there is a possibility of data entry errors, with multiple levels of revisions prior delivering the data to the judge. Both steps lead inconsistency of data between the court and the execution court. 5. Responding to Urgent Information Requests Decision-making process, related to the directorate or any court execution file, require fast and accurate information. The information system was not prepared to issue statistical and/or analytical reports. Providing the judges with the required information regarding a specific file, sometimes go through lengthy process by sending the file to different departments like Finance , Legal researchers department. 6. Addresses, Notifications and Correspondences The first step of starting the execution of the sentence process is notifying the addressed person by the governmental entities which rely on obtaining his/her address from the data available on the ID card (which might not be updated in different scenarios) which lead to alternative processes to deliver the court notifications.

B. Strategic Approach

 2. What was the solution?
Developing a customized and Integrated information system that fulfill the business needs of the Execution Directorate with adherence to the laws and regulations of Kingdom of Bahrain.

 3. How did the initiative solve the problem and improve people’s lives?
The main aim of the project is to enhance the execution procedures in adherence to the laws and regulations of Bahrain, by facilitating the related procedures via information systems to achieve the following objectives: a. Eliminating the exchange of paper court execution files and its accompanied risks b. Providing executive related services via various online channels c. Increasing effectiveness of the information system in facilitating internal procedures d. Exchanging and integrating of data amongst Courts Directorate and the Execution Directorate e. Improving the correspondence processes between the Execution Directorate and the external entities that support in execution of verdicts. f. Delivering the SMS services to Applicants regarding the status of court execution files g. Providing Inquiry Services of court execution files and status of related requests via various electronic channels. The three principals of Bahrain’s Economic Vision 2030 are sustainability, competitiveness and justice as the Kingdom is working on achieving a high competitive ability on the economic level and an increase in productivity within a competitive environment that drives economic development. The desired economic growth urges to encourage investment and attract capitals. Achieving the concept of justice is considered as one of the important factors that provide the suitable environment to attract investors by ending disputes which could be created through the practice of economic activities and prompting the execution of issued provisions. Due to the main role the information systems play in developing the government work procedures overall, judiciary procedures and executing of provisions specifically. It has been vital for the system to enable the judge with full access of accurate information at any time. Such access leads to take the right decisions regarding citizens’ court execution files and contributes in achieving justice through swift completion of executing judicial provisions.

C. Execution and Implementation

 4. In which ways is the initiative creative and innovative?
The project of the Execution Directorate is considered as one of the basis of developing the processes of executing the verdicts as the directorate is the main entity in charge of executing verdicts issued by the courts at all levels. The process of executing verdicts faces several challenges as it chiefly relies on collaborating between the Execution Directorate and state’s supporting entities (ministries, authorities and governmental departments). The amount of cooperation is not the only challenge, the internal work processes of the directorate and their efficiencies are amongst other challenges that effect on completing the court execution files; especially that the directorate is considered as a service department that daily deals with a large number of applicants / customers either individuals, lawyers or public and private authorities. From the customer service prospective and the satisfaction level there was a burning need to change the methods of performing the services within the directorate. The following are the features of this project: • Developing the single interface of delivering services • Developed information systems (integration with court system, online reporting to lawyers) • Enquiry services available via various channels • Online procedures without exchanging paper files SMS services

 5. Who implemented the initiative and what is the size of the population affected by this initiative?
The Judgment Enforcement Information System project has been implemented in collaboration as iGA’s BPR team carried-out business analysis, business process re-engineering and determining the System Functional Requirements. iGA's Service Delivery team developed the eServices; while MoJ, represented by its software development team, developed the backend of the Execution Directorate. The project contributed in reducing operational costs, whether direct and/or indirect costs associated with the process, for example printing papers has stopped such as Payment Order, Payment Receipt, Notification Form and Application Form. Adding to that the utilization of human resources which have become more productive with the availability of new online services– please see Figure 3 in supportive document. Around 80% of the population affected by the initiative representing 1 Million person above the age of 21 YO.
 6. How was the strategy implemented and what resources were mobilized?
The Project of the Execution Directorate is a result of the shared strategic vision for the Information & eGovernment Authority in collaboration with MoJ and Supreme Judicial Council in regards to the procedures of Execution Directorate. The vision relied on in depth analysis of data and statistics throughout the past years along with comprehensive examination and study of the procedures. This vision aims to create comprehensive transformation within the internal procedures through the shift towards the customer services concept and applying the concept of a single window - while developing the current information systems to serve the enhanced procedures contributed in speeding interaction amongst internal sections side-by-side with judges; or on the level of cooperation with state agencies; these government bodies assist in executing judgments. Data integration becomes a part of the future vision of the Execution Directorate; all of this encompassed in the general framework that comply with the current activated laws relevant to executing civil and commercial provisions. The Business Process Re-engineering (BPR) team followed the standard methodologies in the fields of Business Analysis and Business Process Re-Engineering; which include but not limited to conducting series of site visits, to all sections of the directorate at the ministry, along with attending execution hearings, collecting of statistics and forms, as opposed to the reviewing of the directorate’s information system in collaboration with IT team from MoJ. With the purpose of recognizing the actual nature of work. Key dates of the most important preparation and planning phases of the project- please see Figure 1 in supportive document

 7. Who were the stakeholders involved in the design of the initiative and in its implementation?
Within the initiative of developing the judicial work processes by utilizing the information systems and considering what the Execution Directorate represents of importance to its role in the executing of judgments procedures, a joint team was formed comprising the below parties: 1. Business Process Re-Engineering and Change Management departments from iGA 2. Development team from iGA 3. Ministry of Justice representatives (Business and Development Team) 4. Supreme Judicial Council representatives (Business Stakeholders) For duties and responsibilities for each party- please see Figure 2 in supportive document

 8. What were the most successful outputs and why was the initiative effective?
Some of the most important outcomes of the Judgment Enforcement Information System project which have contributed in having agile work procedures, putting the customers at the center of attention either individual or lawyers. Below list of the main outcomes of the project: 1. Set of eservices via eGovernment portal: through which the Applicants’ site visits are not required anymore to have the related services. Applicants (Individuals / Lawyers) were able to benefit from directorate’s services via the portal which comprised the below eServices:  Open Court Execution File  Submitting Associated Execution Requests  Online Payment of Court Execution Fees  Status Enquiry of Court Execution File  Along with a set of services for lawyers include but not limited to Notifications. 2. One-Stop-Shop: The project aimed to adopt the concept of a one-stop-shop in order to complete all the procedures from one online window, and reduce the number of visits carried-out by the Applicants. An individual has become capable of delivering the required papers, electronically, pay the fees – easily completing the service without moving from one department to another. 3. SMS Service: the SMSs have an important role in the Judgment Enforcement Information system in several situations; when a change conducted to their requests that include (Acceptance, Rejection) of the requests or to pay the associated fees. The SMS service contributed in reducing the number of visits to perform inquiries, Below are examples of SMSs sent by the system: # Event SMS 1 Application fees Your application No. “XX” is ready for payment, The associated fees are “XX BHD”, Payment can be performed through Bahrain.bh 2 Request Status Your request No. (XX/2017) is (Rejected / Accepted) 4. Correspondences with relevant Entities: electronic integration with entities that are continuously dealt with such as Central Bank of Bahrain and the Police. As a result of this integration, the printing of letters – exceeded more than 16,000 letters in 2014 among the directorate and these entities - is discontinued. 5. Cancellation of Execution Court Hearings: with the beginning of applying this project, all court hearings have stopped since they are no longer required after having the online services. Applicants are able to open court execution files and submit their related requests via the eGovernment portal. Naturally, cancellation of hearings means cancellation of printing announcements of attendance which have exceeded 15,000 announcements in 2014.

 9. What were the main obstacles encountered and how were they overcome?
1. Data Integration Electronic integration of data with the court system is one of the most important factors for the success of the online system; thus, the developed processes and eServices within the directorate mainly rely on the availability of all the related data in advance before opening the court execution file. The integration will have an impact on two aspects, first is increasing the eService uptake by lawyers and individuals. Second is the swiftness of completing the processes of the One-Stop-Shop. 2. Document Scanning Scanning must be in two main steps, the first is when submitting through the One-Stop-Shop phase either for the purpose of opening a court file (which requires the scanning of all documents, especially the assets) or inserting any other documents to attach them to the file. The second step involves the receiving of external entities’ responses which include notification results or responses to letters by cooperate government entities in judgment enforcement. 3. Competencies of Human Resources IT skills Human resources is one of the crucial elements for the success of the information system, where the burden of operating the systems and following-up of formed processes which require taking into account the following aspects: 1) Selecting employees who operate in the system according to the component ‘Ability to deal with the computer and IT systems’. 2) Facilitating the method of entering data and/or implementing processes in the system – what should be considered by the IT team of MoJ (for instance, using the approaches of ‘drop-down lists’/ ‘multi-choice’ instead of direct insertion and similarly with associated technical matters). Holding intensive training courses for users of the revamped system together with explaining employees’ duties individually and precisely to raise awareness and understanding about the importance of tasks performed by the user on the system.

D. Impact and Sustainability

 10. What were the key benefits resulting from this initiative?
 Better utilization of available human resources  Speed of providing customer services via the One-Stop-Shop to complete a transaction (submitting papers, payment and receiving of services)  Reduction of expenditures for delivering the execution related services by reducing the size of correspondences; especially the announcement of attending hearings; 15,000 announcements  Reduction of number of visits by the Applicants via the eService to open the file Please see Figure 5 in supportive document.

 11. Did the initiative improve integrity and/or accountability in public service? (If applicable)
Yes, The initiative improve the level of integrity of the related execution services, since all the activities related to submitting, handling the transactions and its related inquiries are handled electronically without any human intervention between the applicant and the judge. While the top management can monitor the performance through the system reports Please see Figure 6 in supportive document.

 12. Were special measures put in place to ensure that the initiative benefits women and girls and improves the situation of the poorest and most vulnerable? (If applicable)
Not applicable

Contact Information

Institution Name:   Information & eGovernment Authority
Institution Type:   Local Government  
Contact Person:   Sahayer AlHashimi
Title:   Chief of Public Relations and Media  
Telephone/ Fax:   +973 17388252
Institution's / Project's Website:  
E-mail:   salhashimi@iga.gov.bh  
Address:   P. O. Box 75533
Postal Code:  
City:  
State/Province:  
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