The Provision of a Verbatim Court Recording Service to the Military Court Services (MCS).

Descriptions

Law-courts-related administrative services. The Authority has a requirement for the provision of a Verbatim Court Recorder's (VCR) service at all Service Court proceedings in the Court Martial, the Service Civilian Court and the Summary Appeal Court for the Army, Royal Air Force and Royal Navy (including Royal Marines). The service is also required to cover judicial hearings, Army Board Oral Hearings (OH) and Service Inquiries (SI) convened by the Army. These proceedings, hearings and inquiries are predominantly held at the 5 permanent Military Court Centres (MCCs), four of which are located in the United Kingdom (at Bulford, Colchester, Catterick and Portsmouth) and the fifth at Sennelager in Germany. The principal requirement is for VCRs in UK and Germany, but there is also potentially a requirement to support Court proceedings, hearings and inquiries on a global basis. For instance, in recent years occasional proceedings have been held in Cyprus, Brunei, Belize, Gibraltar, Canada, Kosovo, the Falkland Islands and USA.The Authority intends to place an Enabling Arrangement to commence on 1.10.2015 for a period of 3 years with an option to extend for a further period of 1 year or part thereof.The principal task of the VCR is the production of accurate transcripts of all proceedings in Service Courts, at judicial hearings, at Army Board OH and at SI, which will entail:— The use of current transcription/recording systems, which will be provided and maintained by the contractor.— The accurate recording of every word spoken at proceedings.— Identifying speakers and noting the movement of documents and exhibits and the timings of Court, Army Board OH or SI.— Logging and storage of tapes and provision of assistance to the Court, OH, or SI regarding identification and playback of evidence given.— The despatch and storage of transcripts.— Recording and transcribing ‘in chambers’ discussions as required by the judge advocate.— VCRs tasked on behalf of the MOD should be security vetted to Security Check level.Verbatim Court Recorders (VCR) must be conversant with:-— Courtroom procedures— Common legal terms, including those used in forensic medicine, and Service terminology.— The layout and contents of standard legal works of reference, e.g. ‘Archbold’, Halisbury Laws of England, Criminal Appeal Reports etc.— The layout and content of the Manual of Service Law (JSP 830), Volumes 2 (Court Guide) and 3 (Legal Compendium) are to be found at: http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/AboutDefence/CorporatePublications/LegalPublications/ManualOfServiceLaw/— Guides issued by the Judge Advocate General (JAG) and the Military Court Service (MCS) relating to practice, procedure and sentencing.— Civilian criminal legislation.The Authority cannot guarantee any level of throughput but as an example of past levels, the data from 2014 indicates 462 Courts Martial and 76 Summary Appeal Courts split between the 5 permanent locations and the ad hoc court in Cyprus.The company should provide a designated point of contact for the contract to provide out of hours support (i.e. over weekends and bank holidays)There may be a requirement to produce ‘“real-time”’ transcripts of proceedings.In accordance with the Data Protection Act and Service law, all transcripts and audio tapes must be retained for 6 years after the completion of the case concerned as they are records of legal documents.Expression of Interest to participate in this requirement are to be submitted on the DCO by completing the Pre-Qualification Notice (PQQ). Details to access the PQQ can be found under ‘Advertising Regime DCB’. Interested parties are required to complete the PQQ to provide information that allows the Authority to evaluate the suppliers capacities and capabilities. Responses to all questions in Part 1 of the PQQ are to be marked on a Pass/Fail Basis. Economic Operators that are assessed as having failed any of these questions will not be invited to tender for this requirement. Questions in Part 2 of the PQQ will be evaluated using the following scoring matrix — 0-Unacceptable, 1-Serious Concerns, 2-Minor Concerns, 3-Confidence, 5- High Confidence. A minimum score of 3 is required against Section 8 8.1.1 to 8.1.4. Economic Operators that do not achieve these minimum scores will not be invited to tender for this requirement. In the event that more than 6 Economic Operators achieve the minimum scores then only the 6 Economic Operators with the highest scores will be invited to tender for this requirement.The DRAFT tender documentation loaded with this advert is indicative, for information ONLY and maybe subject to change.At this stage no formal response is required to the tender.Deadline for completion of PQQ is 7.8.2015The Potential Provider's financial ability to meet this requirement will be assessed on a risk basis and the financial information provided by the Potential Provider in response to Part 1 Form D question 2.1 of the PQQ will be evaluated by the Authority. Factors that will be taken into consideration when evaluating financial information include:a. Turnoverb. Profitabilityc. Liquidity and Working Capitald. Debte. Cash FlowThe Authority will also examine the financial health of the immediate and ultimate parent of the Potential Provider where it is part of a group.When assessing the financial health of an organisation the Authority will also take into consideration any Auditor's opinion, for example Qualifications or Emphasis of Matter Statements.The Authority's opinion may be validated using credit agencies such as Company Watch.If examination of the financial information exposes the potential for a Potential Provider to experience financial difficulty in performing the contract, then the Authority will determine the level of risk that it is willing to bear in fulfilling the requirement. Evaluation of the financial information will attract a Pass or Fail risk marking.PASS — A low or medium financial risk assessment as evaluated by the Authority.FAIL — A high unacceptable level of financial risk as evaluated by the Authority.