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VICTORIA – British Columbia and Quebec have signed an agreement to co-operate on the development of justice information systems, British Columbia and Quebec attorneys general Wally Oppal and Jacques Dupuis announced today.
“This is significant recognition of the excellence of British Columbia’s criminal, correctional, civil and youth justice information systems,” said Oppal. “Information systems are important to the smooth functioning of the justice system. The technology we use provides for the electronic exchange of reliable information between those involved in the administration of justice.”
As part of the agreement between the two provinces to share justice-related intellectual property between provinces, Quebec has purchased and will implement B.C.’s suite of criminal and civil justice applications. The first phase of Quebec’s integrated justice initiative (SIIJ) is underway and signals the beginning of a bilateral sharing of justice solutions and operational knowledge between the two provinces. The memorandum of understanding (MOU) between B.C. and Quebec also identifies specific justice applications owned by Quebec that are of interest to the B.C. justice community.
“British Columbia and Quebec have a similar concept of the justice information systems to be implemented and a common vision of the procedure required for their development,” said Dupuis. “This MOU constitutes, therefore, for Quebec, an economical and fast way to develop and implement an Integrated System of Justice Information project. Moreover, the MOU will permit us to reduce risks and costs associated with the development of systems for the two provinces.”
B.C. uses a suite of information systems for justice services. The JUSTIN system ties together all justice agencies in the province. It supports the processing and management of cases from the original police arrest and, if the charges are approved, right through to generating court documents. The CORNET system keeps track of all provincial offenders, both in and out of custody. CORNET assists individuals working in the justice system to share information, when appropriate, about criminal, civil, youth and corrections matters. This approach corresponds to the one advocated by Quebec in developing its target solution.
“As a
leading justice systems integrator, our goal is to provide our clients,
including the Quebec justice ministry, with a wide range of top quality
solutions and services to address their business needs,” said Dean Colpman,
vice-president, justice practice for Sierra Systems, which developed the JUSTIN
and CORNET applications in partnership with the B.C. government. “We are proud
to have been working with the B.C. government for the past 10 years to build
and improve these world-leading applications. Quebec’s selection of B.C.’s
justice information systems, after researching and testing all other systems in
use across Canada, testifies to B.C.’s position as a leader in developing IT
applications to improve public services.”
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contact: |
Public Affairs Officer Ministry of Attorney General 250 387-4962 250 889-5945 (cell) |
Vice-President, Justice Practice Sierra Systems 250 995-3328 |
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For more information on government services or to subscribe to the Province’s news feeds using RSS, visit the Province’s website at www.gov.bc.ca. |
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