EWI now able to assist Experts with sponsorship for CJSM applications

Following contact from members raising a concern about their ability at be able to apply for Criminal Justice Secure Email (CJSM) service accounts, the EWI made the case to CJSM and the Ministry of Justice and Members can now use the EWI as a sponsor if they need to be able to use a CJSM email account to be sent evidence.

The CJSM service is an important part of the process of joining up to the Justice System in England and Wales and beyond, It allows people working in the Justice System, including public, private and voluntary organisations, to send emails containing information up to an equivalent of 'OFFICIAL', including 'OFFICIAL SENSITIVE', in a secure way.

CJSM uses dedicated email services to securely transmit emails between connected justice partners. Once connected, practitioners can use CJSM to send secure emails to each other and public sector justice organisations.

Those working within the criminal field are finding that they are being asked to have a CJSM account to be able to be sent evidence and documentation for pre-trial preparation.

 
But Members have tried to apply for accounts using the Police as the sponsoring body but because you have to be in regular communication with the sponsor, experts are finding that this is not possible. In one case the Prosecution Barrister at Trial tried to request that an expert be granted a CJSM account, in order to allow the trial to progress, but it was refused.

 
EWI raisied our concerns with CJSM and the Ministry of Justice saying that as the requirements for secure email becomes more prevalent (and rightly so), experts will not be able to be instructed as they find it impossible to apply for the account. This could then lead to Expert Witnesses no longer being able to work in this field and a significant reduction in the range of experts and expertise available to the police, CPS and defence teams.

This has been recognised by the Ministry of Justice and they have now agreed a process by which EWI members can now apply for a CJSM account:

• The Expert Witness applicant completes the application form as usual – giving one of the current agreed domains as sponsor
• The CJSM Helpdesk emails the sponsor as normal
• If no response is received from the sponsor, the Helpdesk identifies the applicant and reaches out to applicant for a different sponsor inviting them to ask the Expert Witness Institute to sponsor. 
• If the applicant responds they would like the EWI to sponsor, they will write to the EWI to request sponsorship. This should not be the standard process but rather the exception.
• Once the EWI have responded, CJSM will process the application as normal

For members to be sponsored, they will need to be current, paid-up, members of the Institute.

EWI Chief Executive Officer, Simon Berney-Edwards, said "I am delighted that the EWI has been able to take action on this issue, reaching a successful conclusion which will support both our members and the Criminal Justice System".