COURT REFORM - HAS IT BEEN BUILT ON AN ADEQUATE FOUNDATION?

• NCJ Number: 58433
• Journal: Judicature Volume: 63 Issue: 1 Dated: (JUNE/JULY 1979) Pages: 28-38
• Author(s): G GALLAS
• Date Published: 1979
• Length: 11 pages
• Corporate Author: American Judicature Soc
• Sale Source: American Judicature Soc; UMI Dissertation Services; Institute for Scientific Information
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

QUESTIONS ARE RAISED AS TO THE EMPIRICAL VALIDITY OF MANY RECENTLY ADOPTED COURT REFORMS, SUCH AS UNIFIED COURT SYSTEMS AND TRIAL COURTS AND JUDICIAL MERIT SELECTION; FURTHER RESEARCH IS PROPOSED.

Abstract

SEVERAL MAJOR RECOMMENDATIONS FOR COURT REFORMS HAVE BEEN ADOPTED OVER THE PAST 8 YEARS IN JUDICIAL ADMINISTRATION: CENTRALLY ADMINISTERED STATE JUDICIAL SYSTEMS CONSISTING OF TWO, THREE, OR FOUR TIERS OF COURTS; MERIT SELECTION OF JUDGES; JUDICIAL DISCIPLINE AND REMOVAL COMMISSIONS; UNITARY STATE FINANCING AND BUDGETING; UNIFIED MERIT PERSONNEL SYSTEMS FOR ALL COURT EMPLOYEES; CENTRAL RULEMAKING AUTHORITY; AND MODERN TECHNOLOGY AND PROFESSIONAL COURT ADMINISTRATORS. THESE REFORMS, ONLY JUST BEGUN, ARE BEING CHALLENGED MORE AND MORE AS TO THEIR EFFECTIVENESS--REFORMS QUESTION THE CONVENTIONAL UNDERSTANDING OF THE PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED, THE DIFFICULTIES OF IMPLEMENTATION, POSSIBLE NEGATIVE CONSEQUENCES OF REFORM MEASURES, AND THE NEED FOR MORE EXPLICIT EVALUATION CRITERIA. THE MOST IMPORTANT ISSUES ADDRESSED BY THE REFORMS ARE EQUITABLE AND CONSISTANT JUSTICE, THAT IS UNIVERSAL EQUITY OR EQUAL PROTECTION WHEREIN ALL JURISDICTIONS WITHIN A GIVEN STATE PROVIDE JUSTICE SERVICE OF A STANDARD QUANTITY AND QUALITY; EQUAL DISTRIBUTION OF RESOURCES; MORE ACCOUNTABILITY IN THE COLLECTIVE JUDICIARY; A REALLOCATION OF POLITICAL POWER TO INCREASE FLEXIBILITY IN THE USE OF JUDICIAL RESOURCES; INCREASES IN THE QUANTITY OF SERVICES; AND STANDARDIZATION IN THE WAY WORK IS ORDERED AND PROCESSED, OPERATIONS ARE EVALUATED, AND PERSONNEL ARE CHOSEN AND PROMOTED. CRITICAL RESEARCH SHOULD BE DIRECTED TO THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THESE OBJECTIVES AND TOWARD AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE TIMING AND ORDERING OF REFORM MEASURES. FOUR RESEARCH ISSUES THAT MIGHT BE IMPORTANT TO COURT REFORMS ARE THE STUDY OF (1) THE POLITICAL OUTCOMES OF REFORM; (2) ACTUAL PROBLEMS IN ACHIEVING BETTER JUSTICE IN THE LOCALLY BASED, OPERATING, AND LARGELY NONADVERSARIAL SYSTEM RATHER THAN ATTENTION TO COURT DELAY; THE DYNAMISM OF PROBLEMS; AND (4) EFFECTS OF DIFFERENT LEVELS OF ANALYSIS. EXTENSIVE FOOTNOTES AND CASE STUDIES ARE PRESENTED. (MHP)