MINISTRY OF JUSTICE
JOB DESCRIPTION AND SPECIFICATION
Job Title:
Statistics and Data Capture Specialist
Job Grade:
SEG 4
Department: Supreme Court
Reports to:
Director, Justice Reform Implementation Unit
THIS DOCUMENT IS VALIDATED AS AN ACCURATE AND TRUE DESCRIPTION OF THE JOB AS
SIGNIFIED BELOW
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I. BACKGROUND
The Government of Jamaica (GOJ) has made justice sector reform a national priority and has, on
many occasions, emphasized the importance of reforming the country's justice system. Both the
Medium-Term Socio-Economic Policy Framework (MTSEPF) 2009-2012 and the Public Service
Modernization Vision and Strategy 2002-2012 identify priority objectives related to governance
issues including justice reform. At a sector level, the Jamaica Justice System Reform Policy
Agenda Framework (2009-2013) identifies costed priorities for reforming justice sector
institutions and policies. Another development initiative, managed from the Office of the Prime
Minister and called the Public Sector Transformation Programme, aims to support the
modernization of several Ministries, Departments and Agencies, including the Ministry of
Justice. Transformation of the justice sector is a critical component in the thrust towards Jamaica
achieving its broader governance objectives outlined in Jamaica’s Vision 2030, the long-term
strategic framework aimed at bringing Jamaica to developed-country status over the next two (2)
decades.
It is within this context that the Ministry of Justice, through partnership with the Department of
Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development (DFATD) has embarked on a programme to transform
the Jamaican justice sector. To guide the implementation of this transformation, the Ministry of
Justice has established the Justice Undertakings for Social Transformation (JUST) Programme.
The Programme’s technical legal advisors are the Department of Justice, Canada and the UNDP
is a valued partner in providing Technical Assistance.
The Programme’s Intermediate Outcome is “Improved Operational Efficiency and Participation
in the Implementation of Justice Reform and Policy Measures”. Contributing to this are the
following three (3) Immediate Outcomes:
1. Improved service delivery and management capacity of justice sector institutions - The
JUST Programme will provide technical assistance to key justice institutions, with the
intent of strengthening the capacity of these institutions to sustain the effective
management and ongoing development of the sector. Through the JUST interventions,
which will include costed strategic plans and piloted changes in operational practices, the
GOJ’s management practices, work processes and human resources will be enhanced.
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2. Improved capacity of Ministries, Departments and Agencies to develop legislation - The
JUST Programme will seek to streamline and improve the legislative drafting process.
The Programme will work to strengthen the organization and operations of the Office of
the Parliamentary Counsel, which has responsibility for drafting Jamaica’s statutes and
other legal instruments. On the input side, policy makers across the GOJ will be brought
together to produce templates and guidelines for developing and revising legislative
policies and producing drafting instructions. With more consistently detailed drafting
instructions, the workflow of legislative drafters will be streamlined away from the
iteration of legislative policy and towards a more targeted focus on the drafting process.
By introducing drafting tools, templates and capacity-building initiatives, legislative
drafters will be better able to consistently produce top-quality statutes and other legal
instruments in a timely manner.
3. Improved capacity of communities and civil society organisations to participate in justice
reform and promote public order – An effective way to sustain a national commitment to
the ongoing improvement of justice sector institutions and policies, is the integration of
civil society as active participants in discussions about justice and security policy. The
JUST Programme will therefore work with non-government and civil society
organisations, including the Jamaican Bar Association, to monitor, analyse and impact
justice reform policy.
II. RATIONALE
The Ministry of Justice is currently in the process of modernizing and reforming the Justice
System in Jamaica. As a part of this modernization and reform programme the Ministry would
like to develop and implement an effective statistics, data capture and reporting system that can
facilitate an integrated approach to information gathering, analysis and policy decision making.
The Court System in Jamaica has several components with diverse responsibilities. Currently,
data gathering and analysis is done in a segregated manner that leads to inaccurate findings and
delayed information both of which adversely affect policy-making. Data collection is also
challenging as information has to be retrieved from multiple desks. The lack of intra-system
communications results in a vast amount of time being spent gathering information as opposed to
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analyzing the information gathered. This leads to greater inefficiency in record keeping, data
extraction and increased turn-around times for the retrieval of data.
There is currently one major network system in operation at the courts, the Judicial Enforcement
Management System (JEMS). However, other solutions are being explored and a decision,
procurement and implementation undertaken.
The Ministry of Justice is therefore seeking to contract a suitably qualified person for the
development of a comprehensive system that promotes effective data collection, eliminates data
silos and the isolation of information within the courts.
III. JOB PURPOSE:
The objective of this project is to:

Gather baseline statistical data to inform the current state of affairs of the perceived
backlog of cases and causes of delay in the courts by December 2014;

Develop a transparent, versatile and user friendly advanced statistics, data capture and
reporting system that will integrate the information generated by each unit into a
centralized meta-network that will enable effective policy development and decisionmaking with specific reference to justice reform and sustainability of outcomes by June
2015;

Conduct comprehensive training for existing and potential staff of the courts by October
2015;

Facilitate full implementation of the new Management Information System by January
2016.
IV. KEY RESPONSIBILITY AREAS
Under this Project the incumbent is expected to conduct research, plan initiatives, and implement
a modern data gathering, Case and Information Management System for the courts of Jamaica.
The outcomes of this project should reflect the creation of an interconnected data collection
system that has sector-wide data gathering capabilities, is highly deployable has automatic
functionality, and secured protection of all live data.
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Part I
Research/Situation Analysis Phase
The incumbent will:
a. Conduct desk review of the Jamaica Justice System Reform Policy Agenda
Framework, the Jamaica Justice System Reform Task Force Report, as well as, any
other documentation provided by the Ministry of Justice or the Courts;
b. Develop an appropriate research design to conduct a situation analysis of the Court’s data and
statistics case Information Management System to determine the courts current data
collection mechanisms and user requirements. The research design should include both
qualitative and quantitative methodologies, including:

Consultations with key members of stakeholder groups, including but not limited
to:

o
Chief Justice
o
President of the Court of Appeal
o
Resident Magistrates and Judges
o
Court Administrators of the various courts at all levels
o
Staff of the courts
The research should include a review and analysis of the functions of the
various units in the court system, the job descriptions of key court
personnel as identified by the Chief Justice and identify any gaps in data
gathering and management skills;


Consultations with key court user groups, such as:
o
Members of the Legal Fraternity;
o
Private Sector;
o
Members of the public attending court, and;
o
Ministry of Justice.
From the research conducted, the Incumbent will also determine:
o
Strengths and weaknesses of the current system
o
opportunities for change, and;
o
threats to effective implementation of the new data management system;
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
Work with the Ministry of Justice’s Management Information Systems (MIS)
Unit to review of the JEMS.
Part II
Design and Development Phase
From the research conducted above the Incumbent shall:
a. Make recommendations for work flow mapping of processes within the courts and
propose amendments to the current structure as required to ensure effective interface
for delivery of court services and information sharing with the new Information
Management System that will be developed in collaboration with the MIS Unit of the
MOJ or other Incumbent;
b. In consultation with relevant sector partners, identify universal indicators to be used by
the courts that will facilitate effective analysis of the data collected;
c. Develop a data collection and analysis system and instruments that will make
collecting, analyzing and summarizing data a more reliable and comprehensive process;
Part III
Implementation Phase (A)
d. Assist and advise the Ministry’s MIS Unit or other party on the design and
development and/or acquisition of a centralized meta-network system which provides
the following features:
 facilitates court personnel delivering services and case flow management;
 connects to independent modules per unit in the court system;
 provide built-in audit trail to keep track of changes made by multiple users who
have access to the network database;
 The ability to import previous information from the current system in use (if any)
by the courts without errors, misinformation and without duplicating the data of
the current system;
 The aggregation of qualitative and quantitative statistical information and the
breakdown of this data into clear and diverse methods of translation;
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 The ability to track multiple report processes simultaneously, aggregate
information by parish, case thematic area, sub-region, sub-focus, etc;
 The capacity to link sub-thematic areas to multiple items, i.e. the creation of
many-to-many relationships between categories/themes (dynamic forms builder);
 Uploading of attachments in various formats (audio, text, video, image);
 Search engine function, possibly linked to the web;
 Safe and secure protection system.
Implementation Phase (B)
a. The incumbent is expected to present a prototype of the System to the courts and
Ministry of Justice through its designated officers and incorporate proposed amendments
into the new system;
b. Upon incorporation of all amendments and approval of all proposed changes, the
incumbent must initiate the pilot testing phase of the project with specific focus placed on
reliability and validity of the new system and instruments;
c. A comprehensive report on the pilot testing phase must be submitted to the courts along
with all proposed changes. Once amendments are incorporated into the new system and it
is functioning at a satisfactory level for the courts, training on the system must be
conducted with relevant staff members of courts;
d. The incumbent will execute a baseline data collection process within the courts, focusing
on establishing a definite account of cases in the court system as with particular reference
to the types of offences charged, the predominance of the offences, the length of time the
cases have been before the Court, the parishes, and age cohort of the accused persons;
e. Once approval is obtained for the full implementation of the Information Management
System and training is completed, technical support and all necessary system upgrades
must also be managed by the Incumbent in partnership with the Ministry’s MIS Unit for a
period of at least six (6) months following the full integration of the Information
Management System.
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Part IV
The incumbent must develop a comprehensive information and data gathering management
system reform document to inform the reform process. This document should incorporate
PARTS I, III and IV of this Terms of Reference and should provide for consideration of the
factors below:

a comprehensive budget covering execution of all reform activities including the
research and situational analysis at Part I;

guidance for the Development to Implementation Plan Phase inclusive of pilot
testing and baseline data collection;

a comprehensive Training Plan for existing and potential staff of the courts to fill
any gaps identified in their data collection skills as well as impart new skills to
use the new Information Management System, and;

Transition of responsibilities under the consultancy to the court staff.
V. KEY OUTPUT
Part I
a. Work Plan within five (5) days of employment;
b. Comprehensive Report on the results of the research/situational analysis undertaken
within forty (40) working days of receiving approval of the Work Plan;
Part II
c. Report on work flow mapping of processes within the courts and propose amendments,
consultation reports and identification of universal indicators should be submitted;
d. Development of a data collection and analysis system and instruments that will make
collecting, analyzing and summarizing data a more reliable and comprehensive process;
Part III
Implementation Phase (A)
e. Presentation of at least 2 existing meta-network systems which can be acquired or
proposed a design of a new system. Each option must be accompanied by a budget;
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Implementation Phase (B)
f. Presentation of the prototype of the meta-networking system to the courts and Ministry of
Justice;
g. Report on the pilot testing phase of the project inclusive of training plan, and;
h. Report on the results of the baseline data collected along with analysis of the data.
PART IV
1.1 Comprehensive Information Management System Reform document to guide the reform
process.
VI. MINIMUM REQUIRED QUALIFICATION AND EXPERIENCE
The incumbent should have at least a Bachelors Degree in the Social Sciences with and emphasis
on Social Statistics and a minimum of five (5) years experience in the field of statistics and data
collection.
Required Competencies

Demonstrated knowledge of the court and justice systems data collection systems;

Demonstrated knowledge of research methods and their use in evidence-based decision
making;

Experience in preparing reports, opinions or assessments related to the justice sector;

Experience in conducting consultations or interviews;

Experience in working with International Development Agencies;

Excellent command of written and spoken English;

Sound understanding of the operation of the Jamaican court system;

Creative and solution-oriented.
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