3.3: Case Management Systems

3.3: Case Management Systems Summary This chapter provides an overview of the Case Management System adopted by the seven Afghan national justice institutions and the Afghanistan Court Administration System adopted by the courts. Introduction In Afghanistan, there are two case management systems: (1) the Case Management System (CMS) adopted by the seven national justice institutions to be used across the agencies for tracking purposes and; (2) the Afghanistan Court Administration System (ACAS), an information management system developed for case files within the Afghan courts. Each system establishes a standardized process to assure transparency, accountability, and efficiency in the Afghanistan criminal justice system. Case Management System As discussed in Chapter 3.2, the life of a criminal case in the Afghanistan justice system is procedurally set at 10 months. There are seven different government agencies that may handle parts of a criminal case during its life including the Ministry of Interior (MOI), the Attorney General s Office (AGO), the Supreme Court, the Ministry of Justice (MOJ), the National Directorate of Security (NDS), the Ministry of Defense (MOD), and the High Office of Oversight and Anti-Corruption (HOO). Each of these agencies, and even departments within the agencies, had their own system for organizing and filing case information. For example, the AGO had up to eight different registries for a single case including: incident registry, case registry, detention registry, fine payment registry, prosecution assignment registry, investigation assignment registry, prosecution file registry, and investigation file registry. The lack of a standardized system made it difficult, if not impossible, to track a case through the criminal justice system. To that end, the seven national justice institutions signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on October 17, 2009, adopting a uniform CMS that is used to track cases across all of the agencies. 1 The CMS is both a paper based and internet-based system. The system and all of the accompanying data belong to the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. The seven national justice institutions set up a Controlling Board made up of representatives from each of the institutions to manage all major decisions and policies regarding CMS. The MOU 1 The Case Management System (CMS) began as a pilot project funded by the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) and implemented by its Justice Sector Support Program (JSSP) and Corrections System Support Program (CSSP). The pilot project entered over 5,000 cases from Poli Charkhi Prison prior to the Government of Afghanistan s adoption of the program. FEBRUARY 2014 1

provides, A delegation consisting of representatives from the undersigned shall be established to monitor and control the system. This board is authorized to adopt any types [sic] of decisions in case the provisions of this MOU are violated. The board shall meet monthly to discuss problems, recommendations and development of the system. 2 In January 2013, the Afghanistan Independent Bar Association (AIBA) formally joined the board to provide better coordination with the Afghan defense bar. Paper CMS The paper CMS reforms four specific areas by providing: 1) A Standard Registry Book: The standard registry combines and simplifies the various registries into one standardized registry to be used across all justice agencies. The information is narrowed down to the critical information and a unique case number used to locate the case file containing the complete case information. 3 Standard Registry Book 4 2) Uniform Case Numbering System: A case numbering system has been adopted by the CMS Controlling Board to provide uniform case numbering across the justice institutions. 5 The assigning agency is the MOI or the first agency thereafter to receive an unnumbered case. 6 The subsequent agencies are to use the same case number on all related documentation. 7 The case numbering system is divided into five categories to achieve an 18 digit unique case number: 8 2 Memorandum of Understanding regarding the Case Management System for Criminal Justice Institutions of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, October 17, 2009, (hereinafter CMS MOU), p. 3. Unofficial translation provided by INL/JSSP. 3 INL/JSSP: Afghanistan Case Management System, 1 August 2010 (hereinafter CMS Presentation), slide 19. 4 Provided by INL/JSSP, February 2014. 5 INL/JSSP: Overview and Status of the Paper and Computer Case Management System (CMS)(hereinafter Overview and Status of CMS), p. 3. 6 Ibid. 7 Ibid. 8 Ibid. FEBRUARY 2014 2

Example Case Number:01-01-0101-1389-0010-01 (18 digits) Assigning Province/District Year Case Suspect Agency Characters: 4 digits 4 digits 4 digits 4 digits 2 digits Sample: 01-01 0101 1389 0001 01 Meaning: 01-MOI 02-AGO 03-SCT 04-MOJ 05-NDS 06-MOD 07-HOO Kabul District 1, UN list of province/district codes available at www.aims.org.af Afghan calendar year in which crime was detected First case of the Afghan calendar year of the assigning agency in that district First suspect in case 3) Standard CMS Form: A four page CMS form will be used across all of the agencies for tracking purposes. A copy of the CMS form is provided in Appendix A. The paper CMS serves as the official record in all legal processes. 9 The information captured by the paper CMS, however, is to be entered into the internet-based CMS, which serves a tracking and management role. 10 Internet-based CMS The paper CMS form is to be entered into the internet-based CMS during at least six points in the life of a case detection (MOI, NDS, MOD, AGO), investigation (AGO), primary court trial, appellate court trial, Supreme Court trial, and corrections (MOI, MOJ). 11 The information in the system is considered confidential. 12 Each of the seven national justice institutions enters data through vetted operators on a secure, online, multi-lingual system. 13 The internet-based CMS is used to provide case tracking information as well as statistical analysis of criminal cases. 14 The internet-based CMS has been coded to the highest industry standard to ensure information security. 15 Security measures include encryption, separation of front-end interface with code, and recapture images. 16 Various and customized levels of access are permitted and all activity is tracked along with the ability to lock out any unregistered Internet Protocol (IP) address. 17 The data is automatically backed up to multiple forms of media at multiple locations on a daily, 9 Ibid, p. 4 10 Ibid. 11 Ibid, p. 2. 12 CMS MOU, supra note 2, p. 3. 13 Overview and Status of CMS, supra note 5, p. 2. The internet-based CMS is available in Dari, Pashto, and English. 14 Ibid. 15 Ibid, p. 4. 16 Ibid. 17 Ibid, p. 5. FEBRUARY 2014 3

weekly, and monthly basis. 18 Since the beginning of implementation in March 2011 to February 28, 2014, 53,183 unique cases have been entered into the CMS database. 19 INTERNET-BASED CASE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM 20 18 Ibid, p. 6. 19 Information provided by INL/AP, February 2014. 20 Afghanistan Case Management System, INL/JSSP Access to Justice Section, June 2012 (hereinafter INL/JSSP CMS Briefing), p. 5. FEBRUARY 2014 4

CMS Offices The MOU provides that the initial phase of CMS implementation will be in Kabul and then expanded to the regions. The first phase provides for 20 CMS offices in Kabul, divided amongst the seven justice institutions in the following manner: 21 CMS OFFICES AT 20 LOCATIONS IN KABUL Item No. Ministry Specific Location 1 Ministry of Interior (MoI) Central Headquarters 2 MoI Provincial Police 3 MoI Economic Crimes Unit 4 MoI Narcotics Investigations Unit 5 MoI Juvenile Investigations Department 6 MoI Traffic Department 7 MoI Kabul Detention Center 8 MoI Poli-Charki Prison 9 MoI Kabul Female Police Detention Center (Women s Prison) 10 Ministry of Justice (MoJ) Central Headquarters 11 High Office of Oversight (HOO) Central Headquarters 12 Attorney General s Office Darulaman Road (AGO) 13 AGO NDS-Prosecution Against Internal & External Security (PIES) 14 AGO Multiple Zones 15 AGO Law Enforcement 16 Judiciary Primary Court 17 Judiciary Appellate Court 18 Judiciary Supreme Court 19 Ministry of Defense (MoD) Central Headquarters 20 National Directorate of Security NDS Police The ministries began using the paper CMS program at the start of the Afghan New Year 1390 (March 21, 2011). 22 All of the Kabul CMS offices have received training on the paper CMS process and received paper CMS material and equipment to implement the program. 23 All of the 21 Ibid, p. 6. 22 Ibid. 23 Ibid, p. 4. The paper CMS package includes: the CMS and other case forms, case file jacket, case registry binder, three desks, three chairs, one photocopier, five toner cartridges, one small table, one voltage regulator, 25 boxes of paper, one file cabinet, and one materials cabinet. FEBRUARY 2014 5

Kabul CMS offices have also received CMS internet training and 16 of the 20 offices have been provided the supporting computer equipment. 24 As of February 28, 2014, there are 41,351 unique cases identified in the CMS electronic database in Kabul. 25 The second phase of the project, established CMS regional offices in Balkh and Herat provinces. The Balkh and Herat CMS regional offices implement both paper and internet-based CMS. 26 Phase three of the project, currently in the final stages of implementation, is establishing CMS regional offices in Kandahar, Khost, Kunduz, and Nangarhar provinces. 27 As of January 29, 2014, 82 CMS regional offices have been established. 28 The Board has approved the expansion of regional offices to Badakhshan, Baghlan, Bamyan, Farah, Faryab, Ghazni, Helmand, Jawzjan, Paktia, Parwan, and Takhar provinces. 29 The addition of the eleven provinces will provide CMS access to 74 percent of the population and 88 percent of the current prison population. 30 In each region, as many as 15 CMS offices will be set up. The chart below is an example of the CMS regional offices in Herat. 24 Information provided by INL/JSSP, February 2014. The internet-based CMS material includes: one internet connection, one router, three Ethernet cables, three desktop computers, three monitors, five security cables, one 750kW UPS, three office licenses, three anti-virus licenses, one high speed printer, five toner cartridges, and one small table. MOD HQ has not received CMS material because they have not identified an office location. 25 Information provided by INL/JSSP, February 2014. 26 INL/JSSP CMS Briefing, supra note 20, p. 3 & 4. Paper based training was completed in February 2012 and computer training was completed in May 2012. 27 Information provided by INL/AP, February 2014. 28 Ibid. 29 Ibid. 30 Ibid. In January 2014, the prison population in Afghanistan was 29,226. See Volume 7 for information on Afghanistan s Correctional System. FEBRUARY 2014 6

CMS OFFICES AT 14 LOCATIONS IN HERAT 31 Item No. Ministry Specific Location 1 Ministry of Interior (MoI) Criminal Investigation Division 2 MoI Regional Police Headquarters 3 MoI Traffic Department 4 MoI Counter Narcotics Investigations Unit 5 MoI Adult Prison 6 Ministry of Defense (MoD) Central Headquarters 7 High Office of Oversight (HOO) Central Headquarters 8 Ministry of Justice Juvenile Rehabilitation Center 9 Attorney General s Office (AGO) Headquarters Internet-based CMS Location 10 AGO NDS Prosecution Against Internal & External Security (PIES) 11 AGO Military Prosecution 12 Judiciary Primary Court Internet-based CMS Location 13 Judiciary Appellate Court 14 National Directorate of Security NDS Police The MOU recognizes the need for international assistance as the CMS project is implemented stating, The legal and judicial organs may request the support of international organizations to run the system accurately. This support may include training programs, computers, internet facilities, printers, photocopy machines, copies of case tracking forms, standard case jackets, cases exit cards, system equipment monitoring, and biometric enrollment systems. 32 The United States, through the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs Justice Sector Support Program (INL/JSSP) and Corrections System Support Program (INL/CSSP), as well as the U.S. Military continue to support the nationwide rollout of the CMS project through trainings, mentoring, and material support. 33 A training manual for CMS with the relevant supporting forms is available in Dari, Pashto, and English. 34 31 INL/JSSP CMS Briefing, supra note 20, p. 7. 32 CMS MOU, supra note 2, p. 2. 33 See Overview and Status of CMS, supra note 5. 34 The training manual was previously available Afghanistan Rule of Law Worksite on HarmonieWeb: https://www.harmonieweb.org. All Worksite documents have reportedly been transferred to All Partners Access Network (APAN): https://community.apan.org/default.aspx. At the time of this writing, however, the documents could not be accessed on APAN. FEBRUARY 2014 7

Afghanistan Court Administration System The Afghanistan Court Administration System (ACAS) is a manual case filing system developed for the management of both civil and criminal case files through the three-tiered Afghan court system. ACAS was developed jointly by the Supreme Court and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). 35 In 2007, ACAS was approved by the Supreme Court and President Karzai for use in all the courts of Afghanistan. 36 Implementation began in 2008 and ACAS is currently being used in at least 29 provinces. 37 In January 2012, the Supreme Court reported that all of the 34 appellate courts as well as all of the 365 district courts including 1500 judges and 1800 staff have received training on the ACAS system. 38 An ACAS Manual is awaiting Supreme Court approval. 39 ACAS is composed of the following forms: 1) case registry; 2) file jacket; 3) out card; and 4) party index. 40 The case registry, file jacket and out card are all color coded based on the type of case and the responsible dewan. 41 The color code system is consistent for the primary court, appellate court, and Supreme Court. 42 For example, a criminal case filed in primary court is color coded with a red case registry, file jacket, and out-card. 43 The appellate court and Supreme Court also use red to indicate criminal cases. 44 Examples of the ACAS forms are provided in Appendix B. ACAS is transitioning from a case filing system to a case management system. 45 ACAS and CMS currently intersect when criminal cases reach the courts. 46 In an effort to align and integrate the two systems, the ACAS forms now include the CMS data fields for criminal 35 USAID Afghanistan, U.S. Government Improves Case Tracking in Afghanistan, February 1, 2011 (hereinafter U.S. Government Improves Case Tracking in Afghanistan): http://afghanistan.usaid.gov/en/usaid/article/2033/us_government_improves_case_tracking_in_afghan_court s. 36 Ibid; see also USAID Afghanistan, Bi-Weekly Highlights, February 3-February 17, 2008, Democracy and Governance, New Court Administration System Improves Case Management: http://afghanistan.usaid.gov/documents/document/document/67. 37 USAID, The Afghanistan Court Administration System (ACAS) Information Briefing, October 5, 2010 (hereinafter ACAS Information Briefing), slide 3. Provided by USAID Rule of Law Stabilization Program-Formal (RLS-Formal). 38 The Supreme Court of Afghanistan Special Bulletin, Volume 15, January 20, 2012, p. 12: http://supremecourt.gov.af/content/files/bulletin_vol15.pdf. 39 See USAID Afghanistan, Rule of Law Stabilization Formal Component, Monthly Report, November 1 November 31, 2013 (hereinafter USAID RLS-F Nov. 2013 Report), pp. 2 and 7. PDF link available from legal education Afghanistan search on USAID Afghanistan website: http://www.usaid.gov/afghanistan. 40 ACAS Information Briefing, supra note 37, slide 4. 41 Ibid, slide 3. See Chapter 2.1 for a discussion of the court dewans. 42 Ibid. 43 Ibid. 44 Ibid. 45 USAID, Afghanistan Court Administration System (ACAS): The Way Forward, October 2011 (hereinafter ACAS: The Way Forward), slide 2. Provided by USAID RLS-Formal. 46 ACAS Information Briefing, supra note 37, slide 14. FEBRUARY 2014 8

cases. 47 In addition, civil data fields are being developed for CMS. 48 To avoid confusion between the two case management systems, discussions are underway to rename ACAS to CMS- SC (or other agreed upon name), or rename the ACAS forms to Supreme Court Standard Forms similar to the standard forms used and referred to in the AGO and MOI. 49 USAID is the lead agency concerning ACAS. Support for the development, alignment, training, and implementation of the two systems is a coordinated effort among USAID, INL/JSSP, INL/CSSP, the Combined Joint Interagency Task Force-435 (CJIATF-435), and the Supreme Court. 50 ACAS and CMS 51 On January 10, 2012 the Ministry of Justice formally handed over the CPD to the MOI, pursuant to a Presidential Decree of 17 December 2011. The MOJ is still responsible for Juvenile Rehabilitation Centers. 47 Ibid. 48 Ibid. 49 See ibid, slide 15 50 Ibid. 51 Ibid, slide 13. Textbox on CPD transfer added. FEBRUARY 2014 9

Resources Memorandum of Understanding regarding the Case Management System for Criminal Justice Institutions of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, October 17, 2009, unofficial translation provided by the Department of State Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL), Justice Sector Support Program (JSSP). INL/JSSP: Overview and Status of the Paper and Computer Case Management System (CMS). Previously available on HarmonieWeb Afghanistan Rule of Law Worksite: https://www.harmonieweb.org. All Worksite documents have reportedly been transferred to All Partners Access Network (APAN): https://community.apan.org/default.aspx. At the time of this writing, however, the documents could not be accessed on APAN. INL/JSSP: Afghanistan Case Management System, August 1, 2010. Previously available on HarmonieWeb Afghanistan Rule of Law Worksite: https://www.harmonieweb.org. All Worksite documents have reportedly been transferred to All Partners Access Network (APAN): https://community.apan.org/default.aspx. At the time of this writing, however, the documents could not be accessed on APAN. INL/JSSP Access to Justice Section: Afghanistan Case Management System, June 2012. CMS Form. Available to authorized users only. CMS Form Handbook. Previously available on HarmonieWeb Afghanistan Rule of Law Worksite: https://www.harmonieweb.org. All Worksite documents have reportedly been transferred to All Partners Access Network (APAN): https://community.apan.org/default.aspx. At the time of this writing, however, the documents could not be accessed on APAN. Attorney General s Office Standard 23 Forms English. Previously available on HarmonieWeb Afghanistan Rule of Law Worksite: https://www.harmonieweb.org. All Worksite documents have reportedly been transferred to All Partners Access Network (APAN): https://community.apan.org/default.aspx. At the time of this writing, however, the documents could not be accessed on APAN. USAID Rule of Law Stabilization Formal (RLS-F): The Afghanistan Court Administration System (ACAS) Information Briefing, October 5, 2010. USAID RLS-F: Afghanistan Court Administration System (ACAS): The Way Forward, October 2011. ACAS Forms provided by USAID RLS-Formal Program. FEBRUARY 2014 10

Appendix A: CMS Standard Form 52 52 Provided by INL/JSSP, February 2014 FEBRUARY 2014 11

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Appendix B: ACAS Forms 53 ACAS Case Registry (color coded) Front The Supreme Court of Islamic Republic of Afghanistan ( ) Provincial Court of Appeals ( ) Primary Court Page ( ) Year: 13 Criminal/Civil Cases Actions Registration Book Case No Bio data of Prosecutor/Plaintiff Bio data of defendant Case entry to the court Court Action Case out Name F/name Name F/name Case type No of Sender Date Pages Type Date Receiver Date No of pages Remarks Back Page( ) Annual Performances. Year: 13( ) Rejected by Ct Judicial Ruling Decision No Case No Case No Case No 53 The ACAS forms were taken from the ACAS Information Briefing, supra note 37. The case file jacket has been updated, based on information provided by USAID RLS-Formal, to reflect the data fields added to align the form with the CMS. FEBRUARY 2014 14

ACAS File Jacket (color coded) Case Summary Information Plaintiff/Prosecutor: ------------- Defendant: --------------- Defendant s Attorney: --------------- In Date: / / Sender: ----------------- No.: -------------- Date: / / Case type: ---------------- Name of Assigned Judge/Judges: Date of Submission: / / Date of presenting the indictment: / / Date of presenting the defense: / / Hearings Number 1 2 3 4 5 6 Date / / / / / / / / / / / / Date of return of the case file by the assigned judge: / / A-Rejection by letter Number and date of rejection by cover letter: --------------------- / / B-Judicial Ruling Type of Judicial Ruling No. of Judicial Ruling Date of Judicial Ruling Rejected Lack of Jurisdiction Dismiss without Prejudice Dismissal / / / / / / / / C- Decision Decision Number Decision Date / / Date of appeal: / / Appellant s Name: --------------- Out date and Number: ------------------- Receiver: -------- / / FEBRUARY 2014 15

ACAS Out Card (color coded) Case file number: ---------- Out Card No Name of receiver Designation Date of receive / / / / / / / / / / ACAS Party Index card (not color coded) Index Card Name Identification of the plaintiff Father s Name Name Identification of the defendant Father s Name Case file number: ------------------- Case type: ------------------ FEBRUARY 2014 16