Good morning Chief Justice and good morning to all present who individually and collectively contribute so much to these Islands within the justice system but also far wider than that.

I apologise that I can only join you to make these remarks, but was determined to do so, having stepped out of a Conference that I am hosting here.

With that apology made I cannot tell you how pleased I am to be part of this historic event and I start by placing the change we are marking today into a wider context by congratulating the Chief Justice for the momentum she has developed in reforming, with her colleagues, our justice system.

In a very precise and real world sense, having visited the Prison last week and met so many Prisoners there on remand, I can see – as a layman in these matters – just how important it is to have an efficient system that can deliver a just outcome, at pace, and in it is in that very practical sense – and in every other sense in terms of the rights of the victim and the defendant – that I applaud this change in the delivery of justice introducing transparent, codified ‘Criminal Procedure Rules’ in the Turks and Caicos Islands.

These Criminal Procedure Rules mark, as I understand it, the beginning of improved practice and procedure of criminal justice in all our courts. I understand that these Rules aid in the delivery of the Judiciary’s mandate to deal with criminal cases justly and expeditiously. They corral previously scattered (and sometimes undocumented) practice and procedure into one comprehensive document. This provides uniformity and certainty regarding how matters will be dealt with by various stakeholders in the criminal justice system.

It would seem to me, as quite possibly the least qualified person on these matters, at this gathering of legal talent and experience, to be a reassuring thing to know that all stakeholders, be they judicial officers, attorneys and defendants who are brought before the court, now have a first port of call for knowing how the matter will proceed. This provides I assume not only a degree of certainty, but also, some reassurance that the matters will not be subject to arbitrary practice. All stakeholders will have the security of codified timelines.

I also understand that these Rules transfer to the court, that is, to the Judge or the Magistrate, control of the proceedings, including the responsibility of ensuring that timelines are kept. The Judge or Magistrate is now the ‘manager’ not just of the law in the matter before him or her, but also, the manager of the parties in the proceedings. In this role, parties are made accountable to the Judge or Magistrate who is empowered to sanction those who fall outside of these published procedures.

The Rules also introduce the work of a Case Progression Officer who is responsible for actively monitoring and following up on scheduling orders, and keeping cases moving on a timely basis. The person is also given the responsibility of reviewing on a regular basis, all pending cases, to ensure that proper notifications are given, and other necessary actions taken.

The creation also, of a Defence Statement in these Rules will, I am informed, prevent the ‘ambush defence’ as has happened in other jurisdictions with Rules similar to ours. The adversarial battle of the criminal trial has now been replaced with each party knowing the ‘real issues’ to be tried which can only save on court room time and resources.

This development, along with other requirements regarding disclosure by both the prosecution and defence, will ensure that the court, the Prosecution and Defence, are made accountable to one other, and ultimately to the Turks and Caicos Islands public that they serve.

There are other innovations to criminal justice and benefits provided by these Rules, which I am sure the legal minds will speak to. It suffices for me to say, that these Rules are a welcome intervention in criminal justice delivery.

In England and Wales, Criminal Procedure Rules similar to our present Rules, have been in force since 2005 or shortly thereafter, and it is my understanding, that they have helped to change the complexion of the criminal justice system in the United Kingdom.

Regional judiciaries have implemented Criminal Procedure Rules with similar successes. In Trinidad and Tobago, for example, the Rules were launched in 2017, in St Lucia, part of the Eastern Caribbean Court, in 2015. Feedback from these jurisdictions on the impact of these Rules has been overwhelmingly positive. Case management is now a transparent process, matters are moving through the court more quickly as all stakeholders in a trial are now in sync (as common parlance goes), with one another.

I’m therefore proud to see our Judiciary move forward in this way and I am honored to be a part of this historic development in our legal and judicial system, driven forward by our Chief Justice and her appointed Technical Team who drafted these Rules, with input from the Attorney General’s Chambers within the overall progressive Justice Strategy that you, the stakeholders in Justice in this Jurisdiction, have so encouragingly embraced.

Thank you.

20 September 2021, CAIRO – The British Embassy in Cairo is launching a first-of-its-kind “Sports for Climate” competition to raise awareness about the impacts of climate change on people’s health, productivity and the wider economy.

In an effort to explain the effects of climate change on our daily lives, the embassy partnered with World Gym Dandy Mall, powered by Technogym, to show how climatic conditions can affect human performance, especially when people are outdoors and directly exposed to the hotter temperatures the world is witnessing as a consequence of global warming.

The competition is divided into three parts: one indoor workout, one outdoors and an awards ceremony. Around 40 participants aged 20-35 took part in the first part of the competition during the weekend. They included university students from the British University in Egypt (BUE), Modern Sciences and Art University (MSA), and Hertfordshire and Coventry Universities.

Through fun and engaging sports activities, ranging from rowing, to squats to push-ups, participants competed in an indoors workout challenge at World Gym, which they will repeat in the embassy’s garden on Saturday 25 September. Participants’ heart rates will be compared across both workouts, showing the difference in performance.

The results of the competition will be shared during an awards ceremony, hosted by the British Ambassador at the embassy in the presence of other diplomatic missions and ministries.

British Ambassador to Egypt, Gareth Bayley, said:

This is a unique and original experience, initiated by the Embassy to show in a concrete way how climate change affects each one of us. A warming climate means changes to our daily lives – not just athletes of course, but also outdoor workers – and brings new challenges for us to face. We face these challenges best, together. On a global level, this is what a UK-hosted COP26 Climate Conference will deliver in November: bringing together governments, including our Egyptian partners, businesses, community groups and individuals to discuss the best ways to tackle climate change, take ambitious action and make a real difference to fight a threat that threatens our very existence.

Thank you to all our sponsors who made this event a success: Banque Du Caire, Vodafone Egypt, Sobek, Myzone, Puvana, Lekela, and Majesty International School.

Pupils in up to 7,800 schools and colleges will benefit from a trained senior mental health lead tasked with identifying those who need support and improving access to specialist services.

Eligible schools and colleges will be able to apply for a grant of £1,200, which can be used to enable senior leaders to gain the knowledge and skills they need to roll out an effective ‘whole school or college approach’ to mental health and wellbeing, embedding it into their culture and making it a priority alongside academic recovery.

Backed by a total of £9.5 million, announced in May, this grant funding includes training on how to use existing mental health resources more effectively, identify students who need mental health support, and on how to improve working with local mental health services so that children and young people who need specialist help, get this as soon as possible. The government remains committed to offering this training to all state schools and colleges by 2025.

The launch of this training comes as the Children’s Commissioner for England, Dame Rachel de Souza, publishes the result of her ‘Big Ask’ survey, which accounts for the views of 500,000 children in England – more than half of whom said that having good mental health was a priority for them.

Minister for Children and Families, Will Quince, said:

I’m always impressed by the resilience and tenacity of our young people, but we know they have faced huge challenges during the pandemic so we owe it to them to prioritise their mental health and wellbeing as we build back better.

This training is part of the £17 million package we’ve put in place to build on the mental health support available in schools, which also includes work to help education staff respond to children who may have experienced trauma, anxiety, or grief.

Today marks an important step forward in our commitment to making wellbeing a central part of education recovery, by giving school and college staff the confidence to not only teach about good mental health but also understand what steps to take if they feel a pupil is struggling.

More teachers and education leaders are also set to benefit from improved guidance on developing good mental health practices, as the Department for Education, Public Health England, and the Children and Young People’s Mental Health Coalition publish a new edition of guidance on taking a whole school and college approach to mental wellbeing.

This guidance, first published in 2015 and updated to reflect current need, will provide schools and colleges with further information on how to develop mental health and wellbeing practices that help support all of their pupils, including through better leadership practices, effective working with local services, and a supportive culture and ethos.

The updated whole school approach to mental health guidance is supported by a range of research, which suggests that taking a coordinated approach to mental health and wellbeing can lead to improved emotional health and wellbeing in children and young people and help improve their readiness to learn. Schools and colleges that have already taken this approach have reported improved attendance, attention, behaviour and attainment.

Schools and colleges can also access support and training to help them deliver the new Relationship, Sex, and Health Education (RSHE) curriculum, which became mandatory to teach in 2020. The curriculum includes modules detailing the importance of mental wellbeing, and all schools have been encouraged to set aside INSET time to review the available RSHE teacher training modules and guidance.

Background

OCMC is a service for non-legally represented users, for claims up to £10,000. Part of the service is to make available to users’ free mediation to settle a claim at an early stage of the process.

In September 2019, we started a pilot where some users had to opt out of mediation. The benefits are it is quicker, cheaper and less stressful for the users. It also frees up administrative and judicial resource, with settled cases not requiring a court hearing. The pilot was evaluated, and this included speaking to users, academics, the judiciary and the advice sector.

Following feedback, we’ve made changes to screens and guidance to explain more clearly how mediation works and its benefits. We have now expanded the opt out mediation to all defended cases in OCMC.

Who provided the feedback

OCMC service carried out user research with users of the OCMC service. Discussions took place with academics from two universities.

There was close work with the judiciary, who assisted with design and provided approval of user screens. A review was carried out with call handling staff who provided feedback, which resulted in content changes on OCMC service mediation screens.

Interviews were carried out by the HMCTS insight team with users’ who both accepted and rejected the mediation option, which resulted in content changes on OCMC service mediation screens.

Why is the issue relevant to the stakeholder group?

It ensures access to justice for users who are not legally represented, allowing the judiciary to only deal with the most complex cases and continues to assess user feedback to understand where improvements can assist the user in understanding the benefits of mediation.

How was feedback provided?

OCMC service used surveys, interviews with users, case workers at the Courts and Tribunals Service Centre (CTSC) and the judiciary, to meet legal requirements and evaluation was carried out and presented by HMCTS insight team.

Action taken from the feedback

OCMC changed content to explain more about the process, greater positivity, benefits to user, better guidance and collected reasons for opting out of mediation so we can analyse further, and continuously consider improving mediation user screens to encourage more to use the HMCTS free small claims mediation service.

Impact of the actions

More claims referred to mediation, could reduce the time a claim takes to be resolved, reduces stress for the user and reduces number of claims requiring a hearing.

Statistics that support the impact:

In a 12-month period ending 31 January 2021, there were 9,912 claims referred to mediation, with 7,083 appointments issued and 55% of those appointments resulted in a successful mediation and the case settling.

On the assumption there will be a small increase from 40% to 45% eligible claims seeking mediation, it is expected there will be an additional 485 mediations in the next 12 months, resulting in a potential saving of judicial sitting days.

The stakeholders are supportive of the changes as would want more people to go to mediation.

Relevant quotes

[Mediation is] one of the best things the courts can do.

Defendant Opt Out.

Rather the wasting a proper judges’ time I’d rather get it dealt with quickly and cleanly.

Defendant Opt In.

Other examples of stakeholder feedback improved service

1. Judge and Legal Advisor Directions Order – OCMC service have piloted a number of courts, asking the judiciary to make a direction order using the digital file and capability before a claim is transferred to the local County Court. This has been so successful that it is being rolled out nationally.
2. CTSC Improvements – CTSC reviewed OCMC service, and came up with 80 recommendations, which are being analysed and action taken to improve the service for its users.
3. OCON9X Response – defendant users’ responding to a claim by paper will use OCON9X form which allows the claim and claimant to remain online, with the defendant staying offline.

Further information

Small claims mediation service
HMCTS Reform projects explained
HMCTS engagement groups
Engaging with HMCTS external stakeholders