European Judicial Systems 2002

1. European Judicial Systems 2002 Facts and figures on the basis of a survey conducted in 40 Council of Europe Member States

2. Tasks of the CEPEJ • ..to improve the efficiency and functioning of justice systems.. (statute, art. 1) • ..to examine the results achieved by the different judicial systems.. • ..by using common statistical criteria and means of evaluation.. • ..to identify concrete ways to improve the measurement and functioning.. (statute, art.2)

3. Tasks of the CEPEJ (2) • ..identifying and developing indicators.. • ..collecting and analysing quantitative and qualitative data.. • ..defining measures and means of evaluation.. • ..drawing up reports, statistics..

4. 40 contributing countries

5. A variety of systems.. • unified / centralised systems • federalist / decentralised systems • stable systems and systems in transition

6. A practical approach... • A broad variety of subjects and little detail • Focus on what the systems have in common: courts, judges, public prosecutors, lawyers and the public expenditure on the system • No conceptual framework • Simple pictures and tables

7. Number of general jurisdiction 1st instance courts, per million inhabitants

8. judges per 20.000 inhabitants

9. public prosecutors per 20.000 inhabitants

10. lawyers per 100.000 inhabitants

11. Expenditure on Courts & Legal Aid as a percentage of Public Expenditure

12. An approach directed at further improvement • national reporters as ‘owners’ of the data provided; no changes without their consent • transparency regarding the raw data used and their sources • availability of data sets for further analysis and use in related research

13. Cost of the system • the report focuses on public expenditure.. • ..although the systems vary in the way tasks have been allocated as public or private functions • we can compare what states spend on justice.. • ..but we can not see what citizens really pay for justice

14. Public expenditure on courts and legal aid (in euro per inhabitant)

15. Costs of the system (2) • Comparison of ‘real money’ spent becomes blurred by money exchange rates and inflation • this problem is solved by developing ratio’s which have financial values in both numerator and denominator

16. Expenditure on Courts & Legal Aid as a percentage of Public Expenditure

17. Expenditure, per inhabitant, as a percentage of gross average salary

18. Legal aid expenditure • expenditure: the total amount of money paid to parties (or their representatives) • expenditure on criminal and non-criminal cases • average amount of money granted (per case) • criteria used to decide on granting / refusing legal aid • who decides?

19. More on money... Included: • court fees • reimbursement of legal costs (by losing party) Excluded: • costs of lawyers (and other professional assistance)

20. The Judiciary and the Courts

21. Courts • Number of courts • general jurisdiction and specialised courts • Court size related to the number of inhabitants served by one court • Court size related to the number of judges and staff working at one court

22. General jurisdiction 1st instance courts, per million inhabitants

23. inhabitants served by the average general jurisdiction 1st instance court

24. 1st instance courts, general and specialised, per 1 million inhabitants

25. Judges and court staff • professional judges • non-professional judges (not as a main job, lay judges) • court staff

26. Courtsize related to employees • 1,2 (Turkey) to 64,6 (Netherlands) fte of professional judges per court • 2,8 (Iceland) to 179,1 (Netherlands) fte of court staff per court • 0,7 (Iceland) to 10,7 (Malta) fte of staff per judge

27. Judges’ salaries • salary of a judge at the start of his/her carreer • salary of the highest judge / supreme court judge • ratio judges’ salary / average salary • judges’ salary compared to the public prosecutors salary

28. More on judges... • selection and nomination of judges • annual percentage of continuous training • allowance of other activities / sidelines • complaints procedures, time limits • disciplinary proceedings, sanctions • supervising the courts

29. Court performance • number of incoming cases • appeal percentages • case processing time

30. Comparing performance by type of case criminal & non-criminal cases 4 specific types of cases: • robbery cases • homicide cases • divorce cases • employment dismissal cases

31. Slovak Republic * * SM-Serbia Czech Republic * * *

32. * Robbery cases, average length in appeal

33. SM-Serbia Slovak Republic * * * * Spain * * * Czech Republic *

34. * * Divorce cases, average length in appeal

35. * * Spain * * Czech Republic SM-Serbia * * * *

36. * * * Employment dismissal cases, average length in appeal

37. Public Prosecutors

38. Public prosecutors per million inhabitants

39. Expenditure on the public prosecution, percentage of total public expenditure

40. Expenditure on public prosecution, per inhabitant, % of gross average salary

41. More on public prosecutors.. • salary • who recruits? • continuation training • allowance for sidelines • supervision on the public prosecution • disciplinary proceedings and sanctions • convictions and acquittals • cases charged and cases dropped

42. Caseload public prosecuters office (per 100.000 inh)

43. Legal Professionals • Lawyers • Bailiffs • Mediators

44. lawyers per 100.000 inhabitants

45. More on lawyers.. • Who sets quality standards? (legislator / bar association) • Disciplinary proceedings and sanctions

46. Bailiffs / civil enforcement officers • type(s) of officer(s) • who supervises civil enforcement officers? • Disciplinary proceedings and sanctions

47. Mediators • number of registered mediators • public budget for mediation