On our call for interest we received about 25 enthusing reactions showing specific interests in the field we want to cover. We have tried to cluster the reactions and our own thoughts into four more specific themes: Justice Administration and Politics; Justice Administration and Society, Justice Chains and Management of Courts in the Justice system. The idea is merely not to restrict ourselves to court organizations but regarding court organizations and justice administration as a specific area of government activity. Courts also are a structuring part of society. Therefore they should not be regarded or studied in isolation. Nonetheless, a major constitutional issue is judicial independence from other state actors (except the legislative for the most part) and their impartiality from parties while hearing and deciding cases. Still, courts are part of the state or are organs of international bodies based on specific treaties or of other entities, like the European Union. Courts also fulfill a function in the checks and balances within the state organization, but they also have a function in conflict resolution and law enforcement. Next to that, courts do play a role in serving different societal goals in the fields of trade, youth protection, law enforcement, taxation, environmental law, competition law, protection of citizens against the government, and so on. Issues of access to justice, court fees, legal aid, but also interactions with justice chain partners in different fields, like resocialisation agencies, taxation offices or the public prosecutions office. As court management cannot be regarded as the management of isolated organizations, we think different aspects of public organization management in the contexts of justice administration and court and judicial systems administration is an important theme to focus on.
Papers will be presented and discussed at the 2012 EGPA Annual Conference
Aim of the study group
The study group offers an international and multidisciplinary platform to discuss justice administration policies, justice administration projects related to the functioning of courts and public prosecution agencies, and to other organizations and institutions in the justice field. We aim especially at policymakers and justice & courts administrators and managers in the field. The ultimate aim is to explore common ground for cooperation and exchange in Europe in the justice field amongst policymakers, managers and academics. The study group is open for lawyers of different specializations, sociologists of law and organization, criminologists, organization psychologists, political scientists, economists, public administrationists, court managers and so on.
Connection with the European Group for Public Administration (EGPA)
Study group directors have a past in the former EGPA study group on Management and Delivery of Justice and in the current Permanent Study Group X on Law and Public Administration. We have a guaranteed foothold in EGPA for the years 2012 and 2013. We need to definitely organize our network and generate continuity within those two years.
Possible subjects for papers
Justice administration and politics: Courts as a part of the Political system. Constitutional issues, organization and impartiality, institutional relations. Justice systems management. Supervision and inspection in justice administration. Independence, autonomy and accountability. Justice systems as a policy domain. An economic approach to Justice administration. Financial relations in justice administration. Appointments and Dismissal of judges and prosecutors. The relations between public prosecution agencies and politics. The relations between courts and politics. The legal frameworks of justice administration, offices and competences. Responsive judicial systems (How to fulfill the needs of people for justice?).
Justice administration and society: Social legal backbone or social problem solving? Access to justice. Positioning courts in society. The role of insurance companies in litigation; pre-trial proceedings and mediation. The functioning of courts and the economy. Leadership in justice administration and in court management. Justice administration and the mediatisation of society. Lay judges and public trust; the involvement of juries in judicial administration. Court services and adjudication. Internationalization of law and society and the organization of transnational judicial cooperation between national justice systems. International judicial and law enforcement networks and information exchange between jurisdictions over national boundaries. Public trust in the courts and in the justice system. Judicial authority and court management. Quality management and public trust.
Justice chains: Relation between partners in the justice chains: courts and the prosecutions office, youth protection agencies, prisons, advocates, bailiffs, probation agencies, businesses, law schools. Managing expert witnesses. Leadership and coordination in chains with independent professionals. Comparisons between courts and other professional organizations (hospitals, banks, insurance companies, fire brigades etc.). Mediation and court proceedings. Judicial reluctance and social engagement. Information Technology and information exchange in justice chains. Case allocation. Ethics in justice administration.
Management of courts in the justice system: Organization development in courts. Organization aims and targets in courts. Information technologies and case-flow management. Improving case proceedings. Management information and organization development. Courts, societal interactions and human resources management. Required judicial skills as a function of juridical and societal needs? Judicial specialization versus judges as ‘know all’ and ‘can all’. How to enhance efficiency and quality? Cooperation between judges and court staff. Case allocation and case management in the justice system. Efficiency in case management and judicial ethics. Management of international courts (EU and Strasbourg Courts included). We would like to get a sort of an overview on what's going on in that field.
Publications
The study group parts from the idea, that papers that are accepted and presented at the EGPA annual conference in Bergen shall be published in either a journal or a book.
The study group recommends the International Journal for Court Administration as an open access publication platform for publication of accepted papers. Of course, the study group recognizes that the choice of publication media is at the discretion of authors.
The 2012 Call
We call for papers on those and related issues. We are interested in the results of academic studies and in reports of bodies of the justice systems, practitioners and court administrators on projects and policies. Paper proposals will be reviewed benevolently on their perspective of relevance and coherence. They should be sent to: egpa@kpm.unibe.ch or submit online (Conference online submission system) before May 5th 2012 at the latest.
The co-directors of the study group grant the selection of the proposals and the decision until 1st June 2012. By then you will know, if your proposal is accepted and in which panel of the conference your paper will be presented. Papers are due by August 13th 2012.
The Co-directors of the study group
Prof. Dr. Philip Langbroek,
Professor of Justice Administration and Judicial organisation
Montaigne Centre for Justice and Conflict Resolution,
Utrecht University
Achter Sint Pieter 200,
3512 HT Utrecht
The Netherlands
Tel. +31 30 2538059/8062/
e-mail p.m.langbroek@uu.nl
www.iaca.ws - www.utrechtlawreview.org
Prof. Dr. Andreas Lienhard,
Center of Competence for Public Management (CCPM)
University of Bern,
Schanzeneckstrasse 1
Postfach 8573
CH-3001 Bern
Switzerland
Tel. +41 (0)31 631 53 15
e-mail andreas.lienhard@kpm.unibe.ch
http://www.kpm.unibe.ch
Mag. Daniel Kettiger
Center of Competence for Public Management (CCPM)
University of Berne,
>Schanzeneckstrasse 1
Postfach 8573
CH-3001 Bern
Switzerland
Tel.+41 (0)31 380 57 85 (direct, office Laupenstrasse 1
e-mail daniel.kettiger@kpm.unibe.ch
http://www.kpm.unibe.ch
Dr. Marco Fabri
Research Institute on Judicial Systems
National Research Council
Via A. Zamboni 26
40126 Bologna, Italy
Tel. +39 051 2756211
Fax +39 051 260250
e-mail: marco.fabri@irsig.cnr.it
http://www.irsig.cnr.it