Justice Reform
The judicial perspective
Topics
• Common ground
• Managing change
• Budgets
• Four lessons
• Surprises
Supreme Court
19 District Courts
5 Appeal Courts
Central AppealsCouncil
Netherlands:
Zwolle
Almelo
Zutphen
Groningen
Assen
Alkmaar
Haarlem
Utrecht
Rotterdam
Dordrecht
Middelburg
Maastricht
RoermondBreda
‘s-Gravenhage
Arnhem
Leeuwarden
Amsterdam
‘s-Hertogenbosch
62 local courts!Council of State
Staff
• 2200 judges
• 1177 men 1023 women
• 5839 court staff
• 461 staff in national services
•Source: Judicial Council Annual Report 2004
Rotterdam Criminal Court
Amsterdam Police Court
• University law degree• Judicial training – 6 years in
house and courses• 1987 Judge district court • 1993 local court Amsterdam• 1998 Program manager for IT
policy• Civil chamber, Court of Appeals
My Legal Career as Example
What do we agree on?
Reasons:
• Growing caseload
• Development in technology
• Increasing political interest
• International developments
• Outcomes: Council, budget
0
200000
400000
600000
800000
1000000
1200000
1400000
1600000
1800000
1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004
filed disposed
Cases filed and disposed
Other Issues
• Governance
• Change management
• Transparency
• Case handling
• External relations
Governance old Model
Judges
Minister of JusticePresidents’ Assembly
Court Staff
Court Director Court President
Court Improvement Program
• Case handling
• Court management
• Governance
• External relations
Improving Courts: Methodology
1 Program20 Project
teamsJudiciary ledMulti
disciplinary
Improving Courts: philosophy
• Cooperation
• Support
• Knowledge based
• Not bureaucratic
Improving Courts: Results
LegislationGovernanceWeb kioskQuality systemRaised awareness
Improving Courts: Outcomes
Court Management
Judicial Councilwww.rechtspraak.
nlQuality systemCritical mass of
change managers
Court management and budgets
• More than 20 years of discussion
• Judiciary: No independence without budget
• Judicial council budgeting authority
• Courts get budget based on number of cases disposed
Integral Management
Judges and Court Staff
Court Board
President, Sector Presidents, Court Director
Minister of Justice(Presidents’ Assembly)
Council for the Judiciary
Court Budgeting
• Open system: cases filed uncertain
• Budget based on cases disposed x price
• Case price based on standards
• Undefended small claim: € 15
• Estimated number disposed before
• Actual number disposed - recalculation
Meet the Judicial Council
•5 - full time •3 judges•2 non judiciary•6 year term•renewable
• Mission: Improving societal quality of judicial organization• Policy • External relations• Budget• Advisory• Change management
Meet the Judicial Council
Civil
Aligning Reform in Coherent Programs
Criminal Admin
IT Program
Legislative advice
Lesson: Money Counts
• Need for good statistics
• Keep checking
• 1992-2002
• Good for transparency
• And for productivity
• But quality control is needed!!!
Lesson: Quality Matters
Measuring judicial quality
Different instruments
• Statistics
• Surveys
• Auditing
Lesson: Strange Effects
4 examples• Government commitment • Local courts• IT as catalyst for change • Everybody wants
computers
• Agendas • Allies• Changing minds• Critical mass• Ownership
Lesson: People Matter Most