Office Procedure and Records Management
The record cycle
Office procedure is the controlled movement of correspondence and files from receipt to final disposal and record. A sound cycle has six stages: receipt of dak, inward registration, filing and put-up, noting and drafting, fair copying and dispatch, and record-room preservation.
Core controls
- On receipt, stamp the date and time, enter the item in the inward register, and separate confidential and urgent covers.
- Give each file a unique number, arrange papers chronologically, and number every page to prevent insertion or removal.
- Keep notes on a note sheet or notes portion; do not write orders on the original correspondence unless the rule permits it.
- After approval, prepare a fair copy, compare it with the draft, and dispatch it through the outward register with acknowledgement.
- Preserve service proof for summons and notices: process-server report, acknowledgement, or substituted-service record.
- In the record room, maintain an index and retention schedule. Weed out records only with the prescribed authority's approval; keep confidential records separately.
Worked example
A petition arrives by post. Reason it out: open only ordinary covers; stamp the receipt; enter it in the inward register; put it up to the section officer; after the order, prepare a fair copy; dispatch it and obtain acknowledgement; then file the original with linked papers and page numbers. The original petition should remain on the file, not be handed to the party.
Traps that cost marks
Do not overwrite without attestation, remove a paper without a substitute note, destroy a file without the retention schedule, or sign on an officer's behalf. Never mix confidential papers with ordinary files.