NCJ Number
163814
Journal
Crime and Justice Bulletin Issue: 30 Dated: (June 1996) Pages: complete issue
Date Published
1996
Length
11 pages
Annotation
This analysis of the measurement of case processing performance in trial courts in New South Wales concludes that monitoring case processing involves more than reaching agreement on which measure of case processing delay to use.
Abstract
It is as essential to monitor the factors that influence delays as it is to measure delay itself. The most appropriate basic performance measure for the trial courts is the time between the date on which a matter is committed for trial and the date on which the trial begins. Six other commonly used measures include remanet finalization delay, trial finalization delay, pending trial caseload, listing delay, the number of trial cases finalized, the percentage of trial court time used in the hearing of trials. Secondary indicators of trial court performance include preparation time, queuing delay and the factors influencing it, the age of the pending trial caseload. Tertiary indicators are factors useful in explaining the secondary indicators; they include trial court time not used in any formal hearing, trial court time spent dealing with short matters, trial court time spent dealing with sentence matters, and trial court time spent hearing appeals against local court decisions. However, the most important precondition for more efficient case processing may be an explicit agreement between the judiciary and the executive on the goals of trial court administration. Figures, notes, and 5 references