Court cases

The Court cases module holds the court’s files: each case has a number, a title, its defendants, its hearings and, in the end, its verdict.

The case list and upcoming hearings

The case list

Three tabs sort cases by status:

Tab	Cases shown
Open	cases with the Open status (default tab)
Hearings	cases with the In hearing status
Closed	cases with the Closed status

Each row shows the number, the title, the defendants (the first two, then “and N others”), the case type and the date it was opened. Click a row to open the case. Cases are listed 25 at a time, newest first; the counter shows how many are displayed and Show more loads the rest.

The search field (Number, title, defendant…) searches all cases, whatever their status: the tabs give way to a reminder, and each row carries its status. The Clear search cross brings the tabs back.

Upcoming hearings

Next to the list, Upcoming hearings is the court’s calendar: day (Today, Tomorrow or the date), time, case number and title, and location. Five hearings are shown first, Show more reveals the next ones. A click opens the case.

Opening a case

1. Click New case.
2. Choose the Case type, for example “Criminal case” or “Civil case” in the demo. Types are the forms you create in Settings › Forms, under Case types; a type restricted to one service is only offered to that service’s members. No type opens a case without tailored fields.
3. Enter a Title (required), for example “State v. Ramirez”.
4. Add the Defendants: search each citizen by name and pick them (10 at most). A case can also have no defendant while the investigation goes on.
5. If you hold the permission in several services, choose On behalf of which service you open the case.
6. Fill in the type’s fields, under File.
7. Click Open the case.

The number is assigned automatically, following the previous ones. The case starts with the Open status and its page opens right away.

A case’s page

Case no. 1, “State v. Kevin Duarte”

At the top: the number, the type, the title, the status, the date it was opened and, for a closed case, the date it was closed. All cases takes you back to the list.

• Defendants: each defendant links to their citizen profile. An archived profile is flagged Archived profile.
• File: the case type’s fields (charges, prosecutor, bail… depending on your setup).
• Verdict: for a closed case, the verdict delivered.
• Hearings: every hearing, in chronological order, with its date, time, location and notes. The next one carries the Next badge, those behind us the Past badge.

Edit opens the Edit case panel: the title, the defendants and the file’s fields can change; the type stays the one chosen when the case was opened.

The defence

Screenshot coming sooncourt-case-defense

A case’s Defence card

The page’s Defence card lists the lawyers assigned to the case (5 at most). Assign a lawyer opens the list of members whose rank has Lawyer › Defend (lawyer); Remove (hold it down) takes a lawyer off. Assigning and removing require Court cases › Edit a case, and are written to the audit log.

What a lawyer sees

A rank with Lawyer › Defend (lawyer) but without Court cases › See cases (the Justice template’s Lawyer rank) only sees My cases: the cases where it is assigned as defence. It opens them read-only (a banner says so); defendants show without a link to their profile. On the record side, it likewise only sees the files it defends.

Hearings

1. On the case page, click Schedule a hearing.
2. Choose the Date and time (organization time); it starts at the next full hour.
3. Enter a Location and Notes if you like.
4. Click Schedule.

Scheduling a hearing on an Open case moves it to In hearing automatically. To remove a hearing, hold its Remove button down; the case’s status doesn’t change. Hearings can no longer be scheduled on a closed case.

Changing the status and closing

The status buttons sit at the top of the case page:

• Move to hearing: from Open to In hearing, without waiting for the first hearing;
• Close the case: opens a panel where the Verdict is required (for example “Guilty of armed robbery, 12 months in prison”); Close the case sets the Closed status and records the closing date;
• Reopen: for a closed case, sets it back to Open.

Archiving a case

At the bottom of the case page, the Archive the case section has the Archive button: hold it down. The case disappears from lists, the calendar and search, but it isn’t destroyed: it stays stored in your database.

Permissions

Each action has its own permission, in the Court cases module of the rank matrix:

Permission	What it allows	Default
Court cases › See cases	see the list, the calendar and case pages	every rank
Court cases › Open a case	open a case (in a service where you hold this permission)	members and up
Court cases › Edit a case	change the title, the defendants and the file’s fields	members and up
Court cases › Manage hearings	schedule and remove hearings	members and up
Court cases › Change status and rule	move to hearing, close with a verdict, reopen	command
Court cases › Delete a case	archive a case (restorable)	supervisors and up

Except for opening, a permission granted in any of your services is enough. Without the permission, a button (Edit, Schedule a hearing, Close the case, Archive…) stays visible but locked, with a padlock and the help “Restricted: …” naming the permission to ask for (see Permissions). Every opening, edit, status change, hearing and archiving is written to the audit log. See also Ranks and permissions.

Tip

A case can also be found from ⌘K search, by its number, its title or a defendant’s name.