Court Performance Around the World

Court Performance Around the World

Author: Maria Dakolias

Publisher: World Bank Publications

Published: 1999-01-01

Total Pages: 74

ISBN-13: 9780821344361

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World Bank Technical Paper no. 430.QUOTEMany countries are undertaking legal and judicial reforms as part of their overall development programs; there is increasing recognition that economic and social progress requires consolidation of democracy as well as respect for the rule of law and human rights; without these development is not sustainable.QUOTEMany developing countries find that their judiciaries are inconsistent in conflict resolution and carry a large backlog of cases, thus stifling private-sector growth, eroding individual and property rights, and perhaps even violating human rights. Delays affect both the fairness and the efficiency of the system. They impede the public's access to the courts, which, in effect, weakens democracies, the rule of law and the ability to enforce human rights. This paper aims to describe and explain the performance of court systems in a sample of developing and developed countries in order to provide data to those designing or evaluating reforms. The study also seeks to show areas in which international comparison of judicial performance can be fruitful, suggesting indicators that can be used in such comparisons. Finally, it endeavors to provide comparisons of performance within individual countries over time.


Court Performance Around the World: a Comparative Perspective

Court Performance Around the World: a Comparative Perspective

Author: M. Dakolias

Publisher: World Bank Group

Published: 1999

Total Pages: 58

ISBN-13: 9781280005022

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Increasing importance has been placed on an effective and efficient judiciary by governments and civil society. However, apart from decisions that they render, little is known about court performance trends. The judicial reform experiences so far have made it clear that more information is needed to review and compare trends among different countries. This paper addresses the efficiency aspect of court performance, as it can be quantitatively measured using objective data. In addition, congestion, cost, and delay are some of the problems most often complained about by the public. This paper reviews data collected from eleven countries on three continents and provides a description of performance. The main areas of comparison include the number of cases filed, resolved, and pending per judge, the clearance and congestion rates, time to resolve a case, the number of judges, and the cost of a case. The paper also reviews the recent trends within each country and discusses some possible reforms.


Royal Courts in Dynastic States and Empires

Royal Courts in Dynastic States and Empires

Author: Jeroen Duindam

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2011-08-11

Total Pages: 461

ISBN-13: 9004206221

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This volume presents new research on royal courts from antiquity to the modern world, from Asia to Europe. It addresses the interactions of rulers and and elites at court, as well as the multiple connections between court, capital, and realm.


Judicial Politics in Mexico

Judicial Politics in Mexico

Author: Andrea Castagnola

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2016-11-03

Total Pages: 191

ISBN-13: 1315520605

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After more than seventy years of uninterrupted authoritarian government headed by the Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI), Mexico formally began the transition to democracy in 2000. Unlike most other new democracies in Latin America, no special Constitutional Court was set up, nor was there any designated bench of the Supreme Court for constitutional adjudication. Instead, the judiciary saw its powers expand incrementally. Under this new context inevitable questions emerged: How have the justices interpreted the constitution? What is the relation of the court with the other political institutions? How much autonomy do justices display in their decisions? Has the court considered the necessary adjustments to face the challenges of democracy? It has become essential in studying the new role of the Supreme Court to obtain a more accurate and detailed diagnosis of the performances of its justices in this new political environment. Through critical review of relevant debates and using original data sets to empirically analyze the way justices voted on the three main means of constitutional control from 2000 through 2011, leading legal scholars provide a thoughtful and much needed new interpretation of the role the judiciary plays in a country’s transition to democracy This book is designed for graduate courses in law and courts, judicial politics, comparative judicial politics, Latin American institutions, and transitions to democracy. This book will equip scholars and students with the knowledge required to understand the importance of the independence of the judiciary in the transition to democracy.


International Commercial Courts

International Commercial Courts

Author: Stavros Brekoulakis

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2022-04-21

Total Pages: 591

ISBN-13: 1316519252

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The book presents international commercial courts from a comparative perspective and highlights their role in transnational adjudication.


Courts in Federal Countries

Courts in Federal Countries

Author: Nicholas Theodore Aroney

Publisher: University of Toronto Press

Published: 2017-04-24

Total Pages: 598

ISBN-13: 1487511485

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Courts are key players in the dynamics of federal countries since their rulings have a direct impact on the ability of governments to centralize and decentralize power. Courts in Federal Countries examines the role high courts play in thirteen countries, including Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Nigeria, Spain, and the United States. The volume’s contributors analyse the centralizing or decentralizing forces at play following a court’s ruling on issues such as individual rights, economic affairs, social issues, and other matters. The thirteen substantive chapters have been written to facilitate comparability between the countries. Each chapter outlines a country’s federal system, explains the constitutional and institutional status of the court system, and discusses the high court’s jurisprudence in light of these features. Courts in Federal Countries offers insightful explanations of judicial behaviour in the world’s leading federations.


Judiciary-led Reforms in Singapore

Judiciary-led Reforms in Singapore

Author: Waleed Haider Malik

Publisher: World Bank Publications

Published: 2007-01-01

Total Pages: 144

ISBN-13: 0821369083

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While each countrys judiciary is unique in its individual needs, capabilities and contexts, the lessons learned from Singapores success can help guide judicial reform initiatives regionally as well as globally. No one would suggest that Singapores strategy is a magic formula that if followed can erase the inefficiencies of all judiciaries. But it would be wise to examine the strategies used and lessons learned from Singapores experience as a potential guide towards successful and sustainable judicial reform.


Appointing Judges in an Age of Judicial Power

Appointing Judges in an Age of Judicial Power

Author: Peter H. Russell

Publisher: University of Toronto Press

Published: 2006-01-01

Total Pages: 489

ISBN-13: 0802093817

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The main aim of this volume is to analyse common issues arising from increasing judicial power in the context of different political and legal systems, including those in North America, Africa, Europe, Australia, and Asia.


Judicial Integrity

Judicial Integrity

Author:

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2004-05-01

Total Pages: 321

ISBN-13: 9047413717

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Traditional separation of powers theories assumed that governmental despotism will be prevented by dividing the branches of government which will check one another. Modern governments function with unexpected complicity among these branches. Sometimes one of the branches becomes overwhelming. Other governmental structures, however, tend to mitigate these tendencies to domination. Among other structures courts have achieved considerable autonomy vis-à-vis the traditional political branches of power. They tend to maintain considerable distance from political parties in the name of professionalism and expertise. The conditions and criteria of independence are not clear, and even less clear are the conditions of institutional integrity. Independence (including depolitization) of public institutions is of particular practical relevance in the post-Communist countries where political partisanship penetrated institutions under the single party system. Institutional integrity, particularly in the context of administration of justice, became a precondition for accession to the European Union. Given this practical challenge the present volume is centered around three key areas of institutional integrity, primarily within the administration of justice: First, in a broader theoretical-interdisciplinary context the criteria of institutional independence are discussed. The second major issue is the relation of neutralized institutions to branches of government with reference to accountability. Thirdly, comparative experience regarding judicial independence is discussed to determine techniques to enhance integrity.


The Strange Alchemy of Life and Law

The Strange Alchemy of Life and Law

Author: Albie Sachs

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2011-03-10

Total Pages: 323

ISBN-13: 0199605777

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Albie Sachs gives an intimate account of his extraordinary life and work as a judge in South Africa. Mixing autobiography with reflections on his major cases and the role of law in achieving social justice, Sachs offers a rare glimpse into the workings of the judicial mind and a unique perspective on modern South African history.