Research on the caseload management of courts: methodological questions

Abstract

Caseload management - as part of court management - is of key importance for guaranteeing the adjudication of cases, especially with regard to preventing both legal delays and the denial of legal rights as well as with regard to the quality of judgments. Caseload management can also serve as a method for the allocation of judicial resources and for the allocation of cases to judges. Weighted caseload systems are well established in the USA, but not to such an extent in continental Europe. This article deals with the methodology of caseload studies and shows that there is a considerable variety in methods of evaluating caseloads and in the use of weighted caseloads for assessing the needs of judicial officials. A review of the literature makes it apparent that in the near future the emergence of a unitary approach to caseload measurement as the preferred method or even as a standard of good practice is unlikely to happen.