CLIENT CASE STUDY

Government of the Canary Islands: Citizen orientated justice

Interview with Pedro Herrera, Deputy Regional Justice Minister, Canary Islands

Overview

For many years, the Government of the Canary Islands has been working to modernize its justice system. The initiative, which aims to improve the government’s flexibility and efficiency, focuses on two essential elements—organization and technology. For the Canaries’ deputy regional minister with responsibility for justice, Pedro Herrera, these two inseparable elements should be part of a growing emphasis on better serving the needs of citizens.

In this interview, Pedro Herrera discusses not only technology, but also organization, teamwork, an ambitious strategic plan and the progress being made to bring justice fully into the 21st Century.

Opportunity

Prior to his role as deputy regional justice minister, Pedro Herrera was a magistrate. He identifies the year 2000 as the turning point in the justice department’s approach to new technologies. According to Herrera, throughout the twentieth century the tools and processes used remained virtually unchanged. With the dawn of the new millennium, technology took center stage in the courts—a role that is now being reinforced.

Solution

Within the judiciary system of the Canary Islands, this technological advance takes the form of ATLANTE, a system which has introduced an exponential evolution in processes, making the justice system more effective and operative.

The system was designed and implemented at the beginning of 2000 for the justice department of the Government of the Canary Islands. It is based on an open flexible platform that enables evolution of the tool and integration with others available on the market.

A new version, ATLANTE II, an innovative court administration solution with the ability to integrate various justice organizations, is now being rolled out, with added integration and further maximization of the justice service’s citizen focus.

“Our relationship with Accenture has helped us gain a better understanding and foster commitment to the projects.” Pedro Herrera, Deputy Regional Justice Minister, the Canary Islands

Results

The benefits ATLANTE has brought to the Canary Islands’ justice department include information communication and exchange, teamwork, coordination of tasks, collaboration between different agents, adaptability and homogenization of processes and the documentation.

By combining a strategy focusing on processes, people and technology, the system gives users the resources they need to undertake their work and decision making within the judicial framework.