I’ve started this blog to memorialize the initiation and progression of a long-term project which I hope will ultimately transition into an ongoing, perpetual process. It is my intention to document the collection of processes that make up the judicial system in the United States, to perform a complete risk assessment of those processes and to assess the adequacy of the existing controls, both the design of the control structure and its operational effectiveness. Finally, I will prepare a Control Assessment Report for each assessed process which will identify unmitigated risks within the subject process, operational failures of existing controls, including identified instances of “management” override of controls, and will also include suggestions for control design modifications and new controls for judiciary consideration, as required. All Control Assessment Reports will be distributed to the process owner(s) within the associated judicial system, posted here on SteemIt and distributed to those who have requested to be included on the project email distribution list. Input from SteemIt readers can only strengthen the impact of this project and is encouraged.
The process documentation will consist of both process narratives and flowcharts which when viewed side by side should provide readers with a clear and succinct description of process inputs, process outputs, decisions, systems, and parties within a given process. The documentation package for each individual court will be prepared using a top-down presentation style; beginning with a high-level, conceptual overview at the top and ending with a very specific, granular view at the bottom. Ultimately, every key document, decision, system and party will be identified as it relates to a given process.
Each process will then undergo a risk assessment. All key risks identified during the risk assessment process will be incorporated into the process narratives and flowcharts, making risk points visible at the point of occurrence or by identifying the risk generally, as being inherent to the process itself.
Next, the existing control structure, as is, will also be incorporated into the process documentation and used, along with the identified risks, to prepare risk/control matrices. Information relating to the existing control structure will be collected from online sources (e.g., published internal audit reports, faq’s, etc.), through direct inquiries with court personnel, and through FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) requests, as required.
The end product of this effort will provide readers with precise insight into the structure of the judicial system, the risks within that structure, mitigating controls, unmitigated risks, and suggestions for control modifications and new controls, as required. It is my hope that this information will be used to strengthen the application of justice in the United States and to, specifically, reduce the likelihood of occurrences of abuse of process.
To be clear, the focus this project is to assess the sufficiency and operational effectiveness of existing control structures within the judicial system. It is not to assess the sufficiency or fairness of specific legal subject matter that flows through or that is applied within the judicial system. The only aspect of law to be considered here is law defining judicial structure and functionality.
The starting point for the project will be The Thirteenth Judicial Circuit of the State of Florida, in Hillsborough County. I have chosen this court due its close proximity to my location and because circuit courts in Florida have original jurisdiction for a wide variety of categories of litigation.