COURT ADMINISTRATION

Historically at the ECSC Headquarters, the Administration of the Court was generally performed by the Chief Registrar with the assistance of support staff; and in the case of the High Court Offices, the responsibility for Administration resides with the Registrars / Deputy Registrars.

Following the commencement of the Court Reforms in 1996, the Rt. Hon. Chief Justice, Sir Dennis Byron, identified the area of Court Administration development as a critical one for enabling the ECSC to achieve its objectives. In several of the High Court Offices in the Member States and Territories persons were identified, and in some cases appointed, to perform Court Administration functions which included the management of case management teams and taking over the activities of preparation of case listing.

In 2002, the Chief Justice appointed the first Court Administrator at the ECSC Headquarters, and more recently in January 2005 a Deputy Court Administrator was appointed.

The duties of the Court Administrator include, among other things:

• Directing and coordinating administrative functions of the Court;
• Coordinating and directing activities leading to the development of the Court’s Strategic Plan;
• Coordinating the preparation, presentation, and implementation of the annual budget;
• Administering the funds of the ECSC; and
• Ensuring optimal and adequate staffing of the ECSC.In order to effectively function, the Court Administration Department is divided into the following units, each of which is headed by qualified staff:

Human Resources
Information Technology
Information Services (inclusive of Library Services, Records Management
and Statistics)
Accounts
Administrative and Secretarial Support
Office Management

In these areas, the Department provides support to the other offices located at the ECSC Headquarters and to the Court Offices in the different Member States and Territories. Presently there are approximately twenty-five members of staff, at the ECSC Headquarters, who assist in supporting the Court Administration functions.