Causeway is a strategically important criminal justice integrated messaging system which supports electronic information sharing between the five main NI criminal justice organisations (CJOs) - the Police Service for NI, the Public Prosecution Service, Forensic Science Northern Ireland, NI Courts and Tribunals Service and NI Prison Service and generates the NI Criminal History database.
Causeway is pivotal in advancing the digital and reform agenda within the criminal justice sector and has been integral to the efficient operation of the NI criminal justice system since its inception in 2004.
In November 2017, following a competitive dialogue procurement, the department awarded the contract for the continued delivery and enhancement of the Causeway IT system to Fujitsu Services Limited with the Causeway infrastructure provided and hosted by Department of Finance Enterprise Shared Services in the NICS Data Centres.
The new Causeway system now aligns with the NICS Shared Services strategy and has been technically refreshed to ensure it continues to provide essential services to CJOs and to exploit new digital solutions to meet future business needs to improve the effectiveness of the justice system and provides enhanced management information capabilities.
Who is involved?
The organisations participating in Causeway are:
- The Department of Justice
- Public Prosecution Service
- Police Service of Northern Ireland
- Northern Ireland Courts and Tribunals Service
- Northern Ireland Prison Service
- Forensic Science Northern Ireland
- Probation Board for Northern Ireland
The Probation Board for Northern Ireland has access to the criminal record via the Causeway Criminal Record Viewer and a subset of information relating to relevant cases via the Causeway Viewer.
Other organisations in NI and GB are permitted to use the Causeway Criminal Record Viewer in order to access the Northern Ireland Criminal Record for legitimate business reasons.
Management
The Causeway Management Board is accountable to the Justice Minister and is chaired by the Deputy Director, Criminal Justice Policy and Legislation Division. Day to day business delivery for Causeway falls under the remit of the Criminal Justice Policy and Legislation Division and operational delivery is the responsibility of Information Services Division.