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Digital Transfer of Adult Warrants Service Level Agreement

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Digital Transfer of Adult Warrants SLA (November 2023) (PDF, 167.1 KB)

This National Service Level Agreement (SLA) sets out the minimum requirement of His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS), Police, and His Majesty’s Prison & Probation Service (HMPPS): that all documents will be sent digitally when dealing with any person in court who is either remanded in custody, serving a custodial sentence in a prison, or appearing on a prison court video link (PCVL) from a prison or from a police custody suite in a video- enabled remand hearing. Among other things, this specifically includes:

  1. Any case where the defendant has been granted bail by the court, but nonetheless is detained pending a bail appeal hearing at the Crown Court because the CPS has appealed the decision to release on bail.
  2. Any situation where the defendant’s case is on a PCVL for a bail/remand hearing (whether they appear on the link or not) and is then released on bail by the court at that hearing, with or without conditions.
  3. Wholly or partially non-custodial outcomes (including acquittal) when defendants are produced from Prison custody in person or via PCVL.
  4. Any situation where, in advance of any listed hearing for a defendant remanded in custody, HMCTS receives a Notice of Discontinuance1 from the Crown Prosecution Service that requires the Court to list the case and review the defendant’s custodial status; and
  5. Any situation where in the Crown Court, an individual is committed to prison for a civil contempt of Court2.
    The SLA covers cases managed by HMCTS Common Platform and legacy systems (Libra and XHIBIT). Where there are differences in process between the systems these have been clearly called out. The agreement has been written in a way that will aid with transition post legacy system decommissioning.
    The agreed aims and objectives of this agreement are:
  6. To ensure the timely and complete transmission of remand or imprisonment warrants between courts, police custody suites and prisons, and any supporting documentation.
  7. To set out clear and consistent processes that each agency should follow, including contingencies when one or more IT systems fail; and
  8. To facilitate a seamless transition from current variable digital and paper processes to consistent national processes that are digital by default, and on to processes that are wholly or partially automated.
  9. To outline how adherence to this SLA will be monitored.

The SLA covers cases managed by HMCTS Common Platform and legacy systems (Libra and XHIBIT). Where there are differences in process between the systems these have been clearly called out. The agreement has been written in a way that will aid with transition post legacy system decommissioning.
The agreed aims and objectives of this agreement are:

  1. To ensure the timely and complete transmission of remand or imprisonment warrants between courts, police custody suites and prisons, and any supporting documentation.
  2. To set out clear and consistent processes that each agency should follow, including contingencies when one or more IT systems fail; and
  3. To facilitate a seamless transition from current variable digital and paper processes to consistent national processes that are digital by default, and on to processes that are wholly or partially automated.
  4. To outline how adherence to this SLA will be monitored.