1 st Regional Conference Court Performance Management Systems In the Western Balkan Countries

Transcription

1 SUPPORT TO JUDICIAL REFORM IN THE WESTERN BALKANS Funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Norway 1 st Regional Conference Court Performance Management Systems In the Western Balkan Countries May 2016 (Wednesday - Friday) Hotel Queen of Montenegro, Budva Conference moderators: Audun Hognes Berg (Head of International Secretariat, Norwegian Courts Administration) Amra Jasarevic (Regional Judicial Reform Advisor, UNDP/ Norwegian Courts Administration)

2 1 st Regional Conference Court Performance Management May 2016, Budva Albania, BiH, Croatia, Kosovo*, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia 38 participants 7 regional judiciaries Albania, BiH, Croatia, Kosovo*, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia Judicial Councils Ministries of Justice

3 1 st Regional Conference Court Performance Management May 2016, Budva

4 Jannicke Bain, Counsellor - Deputy Head of Mission, Norwegian Embassy in Belgrade.the Agreement with the Norwegian Courts Administration made it possible to restart the network.the NCA to provide the expertise, experience and support to the network..to give contribution to strengthen independence, accountability and efficiency of the judiciaries in the region. the focus will remain on ICT.

5 Sven Marius Urke, Director, Norwegian Courts Administration How should the regional cooperation work? Regional judiciaries Regional judiciaries and Norway Through these conferences - we should learn what measures can be implemented in our judiciaries in order to be more efficient..you should see what your neighbour is doing well - bring home the good practice; copy it and translate it into your own experiences. Through these experiences here, I can learn something from you - that I can bring back to Norway - which we can implement in our courts, so that our courts are more efficient. It is not only to share our experience, but we would like to take back home something from you - to use in our circumstances.

6 Sven Marius Urke, Director, Norwegian Courts Administration We will be dealing with ICT and efficiency. Knowledge To have knowledge (well functioning IT system to obtain required data) Analysis To be able to adequately process these data to have analytical capacity to understand and interpret the data Court Measures To design and implement measures required in the judiciary = how to make judiciary more efficient. Efficiency

7 Sven Marius Urke, Director, Norwegian Courts Administration Two different perspectives on measuring efficiency. Quota system Focus on the judge (how much a judge can produce) Time measurement standards Focus on the user of the courts (how fast they can have their cases resolved)

8 Audun Hognes Berg, Head of International Secretariat, NCA Support to the judicial reform in the Western Balkans Project: Introduction Accession to EU: a framework and a goal for Norwegian Support to the region. Ever facing challange: how to harmonise the support from the various donors and make it complementary with the priority areas in the national judiciaries?

9 Audun Hognes Berg, Head of International Secretariat, NCA Support to the judicial reform in the Western Balkans Project: Introduction

10 Panel I: CEPEJ standards and Case Duration Monitoring Systems Panel I: CEPEJ standards and Case Duration Monitoring Systems Introduction to CEPEJ and its role, SATURN guidelines for judicial time management and its application in Croatia (Mirna Minauf, CEPEJ expert) Case Monitoring System in Norway (Frank Egil Holm, Senior Adviser at the Department of Financial Control and Property Management, NCA) Presentations of the case duration monitoring systems in the Western Balkan countries: - Macedonia - Kosovo Lunch Break and Mingling Introduction to the discussion (Prof. Dr. Amer Demirovic, Judicial Statistics Expert) Discussion Issues proposed for discussion: - How does the case duration monitoring system promote efficiency? - What is regarded as a satisfactory judicial performance in relation to the number/percentage of cases disposed within the predefined timeframes in your judiciary? - If the timeframes are not explicitly stated in your judicial system, what are, if any, expectations regarding the length of court proceedings? - What remedies have you developed to tackle case duration related problems that you were able to identify through your case management system? - How do you deal with old cases in the case duration monitoring system?

11 Mirna Minauf, CEPEJ Expert Introduction to CEPEJ and its role

12 Mirna Minauf, CEPEJ Expert SATURN guidelines for judicial time management and its application in Croatia

13 Frank Egil Holm, Senior Adviser at the Department of Financial Control and Property Management, NCA Case Monitoring System in Norway

14 Frank Egil Holm, Senior Adviser at the Department of Financial Control and Property Management, NCA Case Monitoring System in Norway The court presidents and the heads of court staff has a clear responsibility in the area of case flow. " The court president must be a driving force for efficient use of the court's computer systems. " The court president must have core ICT proficiency.

15 Length of proceedings district courts Domstoladministrasjonen 15

16 Amer Demirovic, Judicial Statistics Expert Introduction to discussion on case duration monitoring

17 If the insufficient number od judges or generally insufficient resources is the major cause of the delays, does it mean that more resources or more judges leads to speedier court proceedings? Lack of resources or insufficient number of judges is most commonly cited as a cause of delays in court proceedings. However, the empirical studies do not support the argument that more resources lead to better performing courts. A sufficient funding is, of course, a necessity but it does not automatically translate into a well-performing judiciary.

18 Amer Demirovic, Judicial Statistics Expert Introduction to discussion on case duration monitoring

19 Amer Demirovic, Judicial Statistics Expert Introduction to discussion on case duration monitoring

20 Panel II: Quota Systems Panel II: Quota Systems The court quota system (i.e. the number of cases a judge is expected to dispose) is the most commonly used performance management tool in the Western Balkan countries. Overview of Quota Systems in the Western Balkans (Prof. Dr. Amer Demirovic, Judicial Statistics Expert) Presentations of the quota systems in the Western Balkan countries: - Serbia - Montenegro Discussion Issues proposed for discussion: - Why quota(s)? Timeframe indicators vs. quota? - Does the quota system in your country take into account the complexity of cases (case weighting)? - Should the quota be a part of the evaluation of judges, and what implications does that have for the application of the quota system at the National and local level? Empirical studies on effectiveness of the quotas in courts are limited, but the evidence from other organizations questions the potential of the quota system as a performance management tool.

21 Amer Demirovic, Judicial Statistics Expert Overview of Quota Systems in the Western Balkans In business organizations quotas are typically set with the aim to have 2.5% employees in the worst performing category, 2.5% employees in the best performing category and the remaining 95% in other categories.

22 Amer Demirovic, Judicial Statistics Expert Overview of Quota Systems in the Western Balkans In public institutions quotas are typically set with aim to have almost all civil servants/judges in the best performing category (e.g. 97.5% as illustrated in the graph), which have the following consequences: Quotas that are easy to meet will have the tendency to remain the same, while there will be pressure to change quotas that are more difficult to reach. This pressure will remain until all quotas are easy to meet. Almost all judges typically meet the annual quota target long before the year ends. After the quota is met the performance is expected to drop. The most productive judges meet the annual quota even earlier than their colleagues so their performance will deteriorate months before the year ends. A few judges that struggle to meet quota will give up at some point of time. Their performance will also deteriorate after that point. Therefore, the quota system is likely to have a negative impact upon the performance of most judges.

23 The quotas are interpreted as an explicit target rather than a mere guideline The timeframe system provides dynamic targets. If a number of cases increase the performance should increase too to meet the timeframe targets. On the other hand, an increased inflow of cases translates directly into an increased backlog if the quota system is used.

24 Panel III: How electronic judicial information system(s) can support case duration monitoring and quota systems Panel III: How electronic judicial information system(s) can support case duration monitoring and quota systems Presentations (15 minute each presentation): - Bosnia and Herzegovina - Norway - Albania - Croatia Discussion Issues proposed for discussion: - What is the biggest advantage of your ICT system in supporting case duration monitoring? - Do you have readily accessible information/reports on the waiting time during court procedures (when further progress in a case awaits action from a judge)? - To what extent your case management system prevents procedural errors being made in a case? ICMIS - Albania

25 Frank Egil Holm, Senior Adviser at the Department of Financial Control and Property Management, NCA

26 Frank Egil Holm, Senior Adviser at the Department of Financial Control and Property Management, NCA the most important points from the oral presentation to be added here