A STUDY ON COURT MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUES FOR IMPROVING THE EFFICIENCY OF SUBORDINATE COURTS Submitted to Department of Justice Ministry of Law & Justice Government of India Submitted by NALSAR University of Law Post Box No.1, Justice City, Shameerpet, R.R. District, Hyderabad - 500101, Telangana. Fax: +91 40 23498385/8386 E-mail : [email protected] / [email protected] ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Any initiative calls for the help, cooperation and involvement of a multitude of people. A study of this magnitude would not have been possible without the grant from the Department of Justice, Ministry of Justice, the support of the Hon’ble Judges of the High Courts, District Courts, members of the court registry and above all the court managers. I record my sincere thanks and gratitude to the Department of Justice, Ministry of Law & Justice, Government of India, for giving NALSAR an opportunity to conduct the ‘Study on Court Management Techniques for Improving the Efficiency of Subordinate Courts’ at a national level. I take this opportunity to express my gratitude to Mr. C. K. Reejonia, Deputy Secretary, Department of Justice for his regular follow-ups and patience in handling our queries. I express my heartfelt gratitude to Hon’ble Judges of High Courts and District Courts who despite their busy schedule met the research team and spent time with them that eventually formed invaluable while preparing this report. I thank the members of the Court Registry who diligently facilitated this research by interacting with the research team and taking part in the interviews. I also express my thanks to all the court managers who meticulously took time in understanding the scope and nature of this study and filled up our questionnaire. Besides, I express my appreciation to the research team of NALSAR, for their adequate and timely efforts in data-collection, analysis of the same and preparing the project report. The study could not have been completed without the assistance and commitment provided by them. Prof (Dr.) Faizan Mustafa Vice-Chancellor, NALSAR i PREFACE The issues of delays and pendency have been the bone of contention for the Indian Judiciary for a long time. Since the last five decades, the Judiciary, the Ministry of Justice, eminent thinkers and jurists have mooted several strategies to tackle the issues of delays and pendency in India. There is no doubt that there has seen many positive actions from our legislators as well as the judiciary. Changes like over hauling the Criminal Procedure Code, setting up of several Tribunals, experimenting with Alternate Dispute Resolution mechanisms like setting up of Mediation centers at several District Courts have already been incorporated. One of the more innovative introductions to the schema of Indian Judiciary has been the introduction of court managers. Coupled with the need for effective and efficient court management practices, a lot of impetus is also given to computerization. The introduction of management practices to the justice delivery system in India has been discussed for some time now. In a significant move, the thirteenth Finance Commission had allocated Rs. 5000 Crores for the period of 2010 – 2015 with an objective of improving the overall justice delivery system. Some of the initiatives included increasing the working hours of the courts, enhancing capacity of judicial officers and public prosecutors through training programmes, supporting creation or strengthening of a judicial academy in each state to facilitate such training and creation of the post of Court Managers in every judicial district to assist the judiciary in their administrative & capacity building functions. The Court Managers, with MBA degrees, were expected to act like a support system to the judges to perform their administrative duties, thereby enabling the judges to devote more time to their judicial functions. The post of Court Manager was hence created in each judicial district to assist the Principal District and Session judges. Five years have passed from the day the Finance Commission embarked on the journey to translate the Indian Judiciary into an effective and efficient system. The study aimed to assess the impact that court managers have been able to create towards the achievement of the goals that they were set out to. It is attempted to identify and share best practices that emerged from such practices that the recruited Court Managers have been able to develop. ii The study was carried out at the national level with visits to 15 High Courts and 60 District Courts, involved the preparation of a detailed questionnaire and a structured interview guide to capture data and collection of data from close to 100 respondents on both qualitative and quantitative scales. The report brings out an objective analysis of the data that can help the stakeholders better understand the ground realities in the court management and administration. The report provides a set of recommendations based on the analysis of data that can improve the system and yield better results. iii Table of Contents Acknowledgement…………………………………………………………………i Preface…………..………………………………………………………………...ii List of Tables ......................................................................................................... 4 List of Figures ........................................................................................................ 6 1. INTRODUCTION......................................................................................... 8 1.1 Introduction to the Study ........................................................................... 8 1.2 Status of Judicial Delays in India.......................................................... 9 1.3 Methods to Reduce Backlogs ............................................................... 10 1.3.1 Increasing the number of judges ..................................................... 12 1.3.2 Specified time-frames ..................................................................... 13 1.3.3 Efficiency of Courts ........................................................................ 13 1.4 Statistical Data on Judicial Delays ...................................................... 13 1.5 Need for the Study ................................................................................ 27 1.5.1 Policies and Standards .................................................................... 28 1.5.2 Planning .......................................................................................... 29 1.5.3 Court Management.......................................................................... 29 1.5.4 Case Management ........................................................................... 29 1.5.5 Responsiveness Management: Access to Justice; Legal Aid and User Friendliness .......................................................................................... 30 1.5.6 Quality Management ....................................................................... 30 1.5.7 Human Resource Management ....................................................... 30 1.5.8 Core Systems Management............................................................. 30 1.5.9 IT Systems Management................................................................. 30 1.6 Possible Implications of the Study on Court Management Techniques ....................................................................................................... 31 2. LITERATURE REVIEW .......................................................................... 33 2.1 Literature on Justice Dispensation .......................................................... 33 2.1.1 Judicial Processes and Court Structure of Indian Courts ................ 33 2.1.3 Efficiency of courts in India ........................................................... 35 2.2 Literature on Court Management ...................................................... 39 2.2.1 Aspects of Court Management ........................................................ 39 2.2.2 Techniques of Court Management .................................................. 40 2.2.3 Stakeholders of Court Management................................................ 41 Page | 1 2.2.4 Origins of professional court managers .......................................... 42 2.2.5 National Court Management system in India ................................. 43 2.2.6 E-court System ................................................................................ 45 2.2.7 Case Management ........................................................................... 47 3. RESEARCH METHODS AND MATERIALS ........................................ 50 3.1 Selection of Staff.................................................................................... 50 3.2 Research Paradigms ............................................................................... 51 3.3 Conceptualization of Efficiency of Court Managers .............................. 52 3.4 Operationalization .................................................................................. 53 3.5 Scale Development Process for Efficiency of Court Managers ............ 55 3.5.1 Item Generation ............................................................................... 55 3.6 Sampling Plan ....................................................................................... 61 3.6.1 Target population .............................................................................. 62 3.6.2 Sampling Frame ..............................................................................