Judicial Administration of Civil Courts

• NCJ Number: 70943
• Author(s): F J Klein
• Date Published: Unknown
• Length: 41 pages
• Corporate Author: Institute of Judicial Admin
• Publication Format: Document
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Reprinted from the 1979 Annual Survey of American Law

Annotation

Policy issues and debates related to various current concerns in the judicial administration of civil courts are identified and discussed.

Abstract

The topics considered are the structure and organization of the courts, televising courtroom proceedings, citizen dispute settlemant programs, judicial selection, judicial compensation, judicial retirement, judicial conduct and ethics, nonlawyer judges, and performance evaluation polls. Discussed first is Federal legislation that would create a Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit by merging the Court of Claims and the Court of Customs and Patent Appeals. This constructive effort should make the Federal court system more efficient. Then, the pros and cons of televising courtroom proceedings are presented. Although 20 States have authorized or experimented with television coverage of trial or appellate proceedings under certain conditions, and the conference of Chief Justices has condoned jurisdictional choice of whether or not to televise, opponents rely on the Este Texas decision to support their case against televising and have the upper hand since the American Bar Association decision prohibiting the televising of trials. The merit system of judicial selection is examined in the Federal and New York court systems and pros and cons for the systems are described. Judicial compensation is considered to be generally inadequate when viewed in comparison with experienced attorneys' incomes and the incomes of those in the private sector performing tasks of similar responsibility and complexity. Efforts are being made to upgrade judicial compensation. The oversight of judicial conduct and ethics is described for New York, California, and the Federal system. A discussion of nonlawyer judges notes that the use of such judges has declined, but court challenges against lay judge systems have failed to succeed in abolishing their use under appropriate circumstances. Devices used to monitor judicial performance have increased. A few of these devices are briefly described. Footnotes are provided.