NCJ Number
81346
Date Published
1981
Length
461 pages
Annotation
This analysis of judicial administration in Canada covers court organization and jurisdiction, traditional management issues, information systems and computer technology, and the impact of managerial change.
Abstract
Canadian courts are now facing an operational crisis resulting from increasing problems over the years; e.g., urban growth, industrialization, family breakdown, greater number of automobiles, more litigation, and an immense, unmanageable court case backlog. Problems are aggravated by administrative inefficiencies and a fragmented court system characterized by short-term planning and political and budgetary expediencies in response to immediate needs. A principal problem of the judicial system is the distinction that has always been made between judicial and administrative functions, although in the critical area of caseflow management, the two functions merge. To remove this fundamental flaw, a basic change is required in the lines of authority and responsibility for court administration. Pressures from modern caseloads and the complexity of court administration now demand the evolution of a single over-arching authority combining caseflow management with related administrative matters such as personnel, budgeting, management of records, and management information systems. The authority must be the judiciary, and judges must therefore become informed managers and learn to delegate operational tasks to trained court administrators. The first section of the book discusses the crucial areas of structural reform; i.e., the relationship between executive and judicial authority over court administration, and the organization and jurisdiction of the courts, as well as the role of the professional court administrator under such a system. A second section is devoted to managerial reform, beginning with traditional administrative functions of personnel management and budgeting and then moving to caseflow management, records and space management, information systems and computer technology, and systems implementation. The final section focuses on the process of change influenced by sociological and philosophical reform. The dynamics of the reform in practice are illustrated by the Justice Development Commission of British Columbia. Future public policy trends will probably deemphasize the traditional role of the courts. Tables, figures, notes, appendixes, and an index are furnished.