The Relationship between Judicial Staff and Court Performance: Evidence from Brazilian State Courts

Adalmir Oliveira Gomes,Tomas Aquino Guimaraes,Luiz Akutsu

doi:10.18352/ijca.214

Adalmir Oliveira Gomes, Tomas Aquino Guimaraes + Show 1 more

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https://doi.org/10.18352/ijca.214

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Abstract

To handle increasing caseloads, the judicial systems of several countries have adopted three main strategies: developing new standards and judicial procedures; investing in information and communication technologies; and hiring additional judicial staff. This paper investigates the impact of this third strategy on the performance of Brazilian courts. We use multiple regression analysis to test an array of related hypotheses about the complex interactions between the number of judicial staff and court productivity. The empirical research uses ten-year (2003-2012) data from 27 Brazilian courts. The main findings indicate that the number of judicial assistants has a positive influence on court productivity, and the number of assistants mitigates the positive relationship between court caseload and court productivity. The results are discussed and further studies are suggested.

Highlights

The operation of courts varies greatly from one country to another, even though they have similar structures
The present study aims to identify the relationship between judicial staff and court performance in the Brazilian judicial system
This initial result suggests that, unlike what is observed in assistant allocations, the allocation of judges into judicial units does not take into account the court caseload

Summary

Introduction

The operation of courts varies greatly from one country to another, even though they have similar structures. Despite the differences between the legal systems of countries, some issues have priority in studies of court management, such as the population having access to the justice services, the efficiency of legal organizations and the quality of judicial service (Dakolias 1999). It is, important to understand the extent to which meeting these priorities depend on increasing the number of judicial staff. Several studies have investigated the impact that hiring of new judges and assistants has on the performance of courts These studies are important, they have been criticized (Jonski and Mankowski 2014).

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