It has been several months in the making and there’s work still ahead, but the collaborative effort led by Judiciary of Guam Supreme Court Chief Justice Katherine Maraman to create a Judicial Strategic Plan for 2020 to 2023 is well on its way.
The effort will set the tone for initiatives in the judicial branch in the next couple of years, says Judiciary of Guam spokesman Shawn Gumataotao and it will also help the courts improve what they do for their employees and the people they serve.
“The biggest difference in this process from the three previous is the use of the High Performing Court survey. It’s a survey that allowed us to look at a number of different issues including efficiency and public trust and confidence,” Gumataotao said.
Judicial officers and staff took the survey which, Gumataotao says, is like a report card of where the Judiciary is at in terms of how they serve the people and how they can improve.
“But also important for this process is the use of the court patron survey. We were able to hit nearly 700 court patrons which include our friends in the media, to those who visit our court on a daily basis,” Gumataotao said.
He added that 80 percent of court patrons were satisfied with the court’s services, according to the survey.
But Gumataotao said there are still challenges, the biggest of which is the judiciary’s slashed budget. The final plan will be presented later this year.
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