John Spellar has welcomed the launch in Northern Ireland of new technology that makes information on convictions and criminal records available to all criminal justice organisations with a relevant interest.

The minister said the move marked a "considerable advancement" in the modernisation of the criminal justice system.

The technology links the Police Service of Northern Ireland, Forensic Science Northern Ireland, the Public Prosecution Service of Northern Ireland, the Northern Ireland Court Service, the Probation Board for Northern Ireland and the Northern Ireland Prison Service.

"This unique achievement within the United Kingdom is the first tangible benefit to come from the multi-agency Causeway Programme, that will ultimately allow for the electronic flow of all information between the CJOs in Northern Ireland," said Spellar.

"Causeway is an exciting programme which will revolutionise the way in which criminal justice partners interact."

Victims

And the minister added that victims and witnesses would also benefit as cases would be brought to court quicker than previously managed.

"Judges and magistrates will now be able to make bail and sentencing decisions based on a full understanding of the defendant’s record," explained the minister.

The Causeway programme has been under development since May 2002, with Fujitsu Services leading the public-private partnership.

The decision to implement the system came after a review found there were "deficiencies inherent in paper based systems" and identified 52 processes that could be improved through electronic data sharing.

A statement confirmed that the ability for all the agencies to view criminal records will be followed by a phased rollout of additional functionality to over 10,000 users.  The system will be fully operational in 2006.