Causeway
Causeway was launched in 2002 as a joint undertaking by the Criminal Justice Organisations (CJOs) in Northern Ireland. It improves the administration of criminal justice through the use of inter-connected information systems based on the sharing of information electronically.
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 of Northern Ireland, the Public Prosecution Service, Forensic Science Northern Ireland, Northern Ireland Courts and Tribunals Service and the Northern Ireland Prison Service. It also 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.
Fujitsu Services Limited deliver the Causeway IT system with the Causeway infrastructure provided and hosted by Department of Finance Digital, Security and Finance Shared Services in the NICS Data Centres.
Causeway provides essential services to CJOs and enables the exploitation of digital solutions to meet future business needs to improve the effectiveness of the justice system. Causeway also provides enhanced management information capabilities for criminal justice partners.
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. Work is ongoing to enable PBNI to join Causeway as a full partner.
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 chaired by the Deputy Director, Justice Performance Team. Day to day business delivery for Causeway falls under the remit of the Justice Performance Team and operational delivery is the responsibility of Information Services Division.