§ Mr. CohenTo ask the Attorney-General what data information systems the Lord Chancellor's Department has(a) agreed and (b) been consulted about with a view to taking part in; what are the criteria for inclusion in such systems; whether they will be linked to (i) the police national computer and (ii) other computer systems; what data protection provisions apply to them; and if he will make a statement.
The Attorney-GeneralThe Lord Chancellor's Department is currently developing and installing a computerised case management system for Crown court offices. No direct links from this system to other systems are planned, but data on court appearances currently provided to the Home Office on paper will in future be produced on magnetic media.
Other systems still in the planning stage are for a computerised database of statute law, and case management and accounting systems for the county courts, companies courts, and bankruptcy court.
All computer systems within the Lord Chancellor's Department comply fully with the provisions of the Data Protection Act 1984, as will all future systems.
§ Mr. CohenTo ask the Attorney-General what data information systems his Department has(a) agreed and (b) been consulted about with a view to taking part in; what are the criteria for inclusion in such systems; whether they will be linked to (i) the police national computer and (ii) other computer systems; what data protection provisions apply to them; and if he will make a statement.
The Attorney-GeneralThe legal secretariat to the Law Officers operates a file-tracking system, but does not 577W participate in external data information systems and has not been consulted with a view to such participation. There are no plans for any link with the police national computer or with any other computer system.
The Treasury Solicitor's department operates personnel, case-tracking and billing systems and has use of the LEXIS external data information system. There are no plans to link any of these systems to the police national computer or any other computer system.
The Crown prosecution services operates personnel, finance and a number of case-tracking systems. It has also agreed a new standard case-tracking system which is under development. The Crown prosecution service has subscribed to the LEXIS legal data base for a trial period. The criteria for inclusion in information systems are that the data should be necessary for operational, administrative or management purposes. The Crown prosecution service has no plans to link to the police national computer, but is discussing with other criminal justice agencies the possible automated exchange of the case data already passed in paper form for essential operational purposes.
The Serious Fraud Office operates personnel, case-tracking and document-controlled systems. There are no plans to link the systems to the police national computer or to any other external computer system.
The systems operated by each Department comply with the Data Protection Act 1984 and each Department is registered with the Data Protection Registrar.