International Journal For Court Administration Vol. 6 No. 1 Twelvth Issue ISSN 2156-7964 © John Tozer, Image Insight Roma Mitchell Commonwealth Law Courts Building Adelaide Family Law Registry South Australia IACA The Official Publication of the International Association For Court Administration www.iaca.ws International Association For Court Administration International Journal For Court Administration International Association For Court Administration IJCA is an electronic journal published on the IACA website (www.iaca.ws). As its name suggests, IJCA OFFICERS focuses on contemporary court administration and management. Its scope is international, and the Editors welcome submissions from court officials, judges, justice ministry officials, academics and others Richard Foster whose professional work and interests lie in the practical aspects of the effective administration of justice. President Jeffrey A. Apperson Markus Zimmer Philip Langbroek Chief Executive Officer Executive Editor Managing Editor Cathy Hiuser [email protected] [email protected] President-Elect Sheryl L. Loesch Andreas Lienhard Luis Maria Palma Linda Wade-Bahr Chief Administrative Officer Journal Editor Journal Editor Technical Editor Kersti Fjørstad Vice President, Europe Editorial Board IACA Journal Norman Meyer Vice President, North America Dr. Pim Albers, Senior Project Leader, Institute for Global Justice, The Hague, The Netherlands Hon. Ian Gray, Jeffrey A. Apperson, Vice President for International Affairs NCSC, Virginia, USA, IACA Board Executive CEO Vice President, South Asia & Australia Dr. Carl Baar, Professor Emeritus, Brock University Adjunct Professor of Political Science, York University, Toronto, Collin Ijoma, Ontario, Canada Vice President, Africa Dr. Dacian Dragos, Jean Monnet Associate Professor, Centre for Good Governance Studies, Babes Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania Mark Beer Dr. Marco Fabri, Director, Research Institute on Judicial Systems, National Research Council, Italy Vice President, Middle East Hon. Vladimir Freitas, Justice, (Ret.) Tribunal Federal a4a Regieo, Brazil Pam Harris Dr.Péter Hack, Associate Professor Faculty of Law, ELTE University, Budapest, Hungary Vice President, International Associations Dr. Ingo Keilitz, Principal Court Research Consultant, USA Hon. Eldar Mammadov Daniel Kettiger, Researcher and Attorney at Law, Center of Competence for Public Management, University of Bern, Vice President, Central Asia Switzerland Hon. Vladimir Freitas Dr. Barry Mahoney, President Emeritus, The Justice Management Institute, USA Vice President, South America Dr. James (Jim) McMillan, Director - Court Technology Laboratory, National Center for State Courts, USA Alice Rose Thatch Dr. Fan Mingzhi, Vice-Director of China Justice Academy, Beijing, China Dr. Gar Yein Ng, Assistant Professor, Central European University, Budapest, Hungary Vice President, Corporate Sponsorship Dr. Brian Ostrom, Principle Court Research Associate, National Center for State Courts Joseph Bobek Hon. Abdul Karim Pharaon, Justice, Court of Cassation, United Arab Emirates Chief Financial Officer Andrew Phelan, Chief Executive & Principal Registrar, High Court of Australia, Australia Noel Doherty Professor Dr. Greg J. Reinhardt, Executive Director, AIJA, Melbourne, Australia Historian Marcus W. Reinkensmeyer, Acting Director, Court Services Division, Administrative Office of the Courts, Arizona, USA Linda Wade-Bahr Hon. Dr. Johannes Riedel, President, Court of Appeal (Higher Regional Court), Cologne, Germany Chief Technology Officer David Steelman, Principal Court Management Consultant, National Center for State Courts, Virginia, USA Suzanne Stinson Donna Stienstra, Senior Researcher, Research Division, The Federal Judicial Center, Washington, D.C, USA Dr. Anne Wallace, Head, School of Law & Justice, Edith Cowan University, Perth WA., Australia Membership Committee Chair Dr. Elizabeth C. Wiggins, Senior Researcher, Research Division, Federal Judicial Center, Washington, DC, USA Philip M. Langbroek Managing Journal Editor Julia Ricketts Secretary ADVISORY COUNCIL Markus B. Zimmer, Chair Founding President of IACA The International Journal For Court Administration is an initiative of IACA's Executive Board and its diverse membership. The Journal is an effective communications H.E. Sotheavy Chan vehicle for the international exchange of experiences, ideas and information on court Justice Ministry, Cambodia management, and contributes to improving the administration of justice in all Hon. Delia M. Carrizo Martínez Superior Tribunal Second Judicial District, countries. The collective international experience of its Executive Board and Editors Panama has been that every judicial system, even in countries in the earlier stages of Mary McQueen transition, has elements to it that may be of interest to others. The variations in National Center for State Courts, practice and procedure from one region of the world to another, from one court USA system to another, also reveal major similarities across all systems. IJCA serves as a Hon. Diarmuid O’Scannlain resource for justice system professionals interested in learning about new and U.S. Court of Appeals, USA innovative practices in court and justice system administration and management, in Hon. Karim Pharon common law, continental, and Shari'ah-based legal systems throughout the world. Supreme Court, Emirate of Abu Dhabi, UAE The Editors publish two issues per year. Hon. Dr. Johannes Riedel Court of Appeal, Germany The Editors welcome submissions from court officials, judges, justice ministry officials, Hon. Takdir Rahmadi academics and others whose professional work and interests lie in the practical Supreme Court, Republic of Indonesia aspects of the effective administration of justice. To view the Editorial Policy and Professor Gregory Reinhardt Australian Institute of Court Administrators, Procedures for Submission of Manuscript and Guidelines for Authors, visit the IACA Australia website (www.iaca.ws) and chose IACA Journal. Hon. Maja Tratnik Supreme Court, Republic of Slovenia The Journal accepts advertising from businesses, organizations, and others relating to court and justice systems by way of services, equipment, conferences, etc. For rates, standards, and formats, please contact one of the editors. In this issue: From the Executive Editor: The Role Of Judicial Accountability In Achieving Institutional Independence From the Managing Editor By Markus Zimmer By Philip Langbroek ………………………………….……… 1 The successful pursuit of institutional independence by Professional Articles: judicial systems worldwide is contingent on how effectively and Social Media and the Courts: Innovative persuasively their cause is Tools or Dangerous Fad? A Practical articulated in the political corridors Guide for Court Administrators of government. There the veiled By Norman Meyer processes of formulating law and ………………………………….……… 2 allocating resources often play themselves out behind closed Cisco – Connected Justice Part I doors. The consequences, as often as not in today’s uncertain times, seek to aggrandize executive or legislative power at the cost of judicial authority, Electronic Courts and the Challenges in frequently under the presumptive claim that elected representatives more Managing Evidence accurately reflect the will and intent of the people and are more responsible. By Mark Dillon, David Beresford A critical element that factors into the success of these processes is judicial …………………………….………….. 29 accountability and the extent to which negative public sentiment, national partisan campaigns, local political opportunism and media skepticism Academic Articles: question its viability. Confidence in Alternative Dispute Judges in many countries share the burden of operating in a public and Resolution: Experience from Switzerland increasingly shrink-wrapped, social-media-driven environment. That By Christof Schwenkel environment may dwell on lingering perceptions of them as government ………………………………….…….. 37 officials for whom the distribution of justice as a social value is driven more by personal ideology, compromise, intimidation, and comparative deal- Selecting and Hiring Psychologically Fit making than by the objective, disinterested, and informed interpretation and Probation Officers: A Focused application of the law. Such perceptions undermine judges’ professional Examination of the PEPQ / PSR Plus status, cast doubt on assertions about the importance of an independent By Scott Hermann, Scott Bedwell judiciary, and spawn cynicism about the achievement of justice as a …………………………….……...…... 54 bedrock civil society objective. Such perceptions are frequently nourished by histrionic media dispensing sound-bytes anchored in fragmentary What Kind of Justice Today? evidence which become ammunition for political assaults on judges and By Yves Emery, Lorenzo Gennaro De Santis judicial systems. In developing countries, as the sophistication and …………………………….……...…... 63 professionalism of the media evolve, the reporting increasingly is based on legitimate investigations into allegations of corruption that range from Sentencing Hearings in English Crown accepting bribes to serious ethical lapses, from questionable asset gains to Courts: Moralization in Criminal Trials multiple standards of justice based on variances in wealth or social or By Raluca Enescu, Thomas Scheffer political standing, from influencing decision-making by younger colleagues …………………………….……...…... 76 to launching into judicial careers the