Court Management in NorwayScoreboards in Court Management

Bernt Bahr, Amman December 6. 2014

Norwegian Courts–Historical Background (1)

December 6, 20142

The Norwegian society has been characterized by stability in several hundred years.

Constitution of 1814 ensures citizens' rights. Norway has been and egalitarian society

characterized by small differences. Both society and the courts are transparent. Thanks to stable democracy, equality

transparency, traditionally there are very little corruption, not least in the justice sector.

Norw Courts: Hist. Background (2)

December 6, 20143

There is a long tradition that the judges are independent; independent of prosecutors, government, media, parties and communities

Important to know that judges can not be terminated or transferred, and they are appointed for life, i.e. until they retire at the age of 70. This ensures independence.

Prosecution Authority is also independent; prosecutors are independent of government, and decide which issues they will investigate and prosecute and which they won`t.

Courts and judges enjoying great confidence.

Norwegian Court System

Supreme Court – Courts of Appeal (6) - District Courts (66) – Land

Consolidation Courts - (+ 434 Conciliation Boards for small claims)

The Norwegian Courts Administration (NCA)

Judges are appointed by the Government

All courts constitute a unit, with a chief judge/court president

Court President is responsible for everything in the courts, but not

legal decisions made by the (other) Judges.

The court president is the leader of

the court together with the

Court Manager

December 6, 20144

Allocation of court budgets – a tool for court management at National level

December 6, 20145

Each court receives its own

annual budget – allotment

of resources from the NCA

Expectations or

requirements given to each

court

Annual report by Court

President to NCA

Court Presidents; Appointment and training

December 6, 20146

Are appointed by the Government after proposal by the an independent body

Lifetime appointment Training in groups after appointment over a

period of 2 to 3 years Its common to build network with 2 – 4

colleguaes together with their Court Managers

Management in a Norwegian District Court

December 6, 20147

Dual leadership The same in my Court (13 judges) as in Oslo

District Court (95 judges) The President and the Court Manager is leading

the Court The Court Manager derives its power from the

President The President is also a judge and share his time

between legal work and management The President points out the direction, the

Manager is dealing with personnel, accounting and general management

Management in a Norwegian Court

December 6, 20148

Earlier: The President was Chief Judge, and was not so occupied with Management

Now: A demand both from the employees, and from the Society for more Leadership

The most important tasks now: Creating a culture of efficiency and management

Earlier: Each judge felt responsibility only for their own cases, “each judge made their own court"

Now: The judges feel responsible for the entire case portfolio – 13 judges, but one Court

Trends in Managements strategies

December 6, 20149

Leadership in Norwegian Courts has been directed towards the society and the Court Users

Example from my Court:Dialogue to improve performance and service

External dialogueCourt Users surveys

Internal dialogueInterview with all jugdes and staff

All proposed improvements considered in workgroups, before the President make decisionsRegular meetings with the Unions in a separate liaison body

The Supervisory Committee for Judges

December 6, 201410

Receives complaints on e.g. judge's behavior and/or case handling (not on rulings)

Disciplinary body appointed by the King in Council The character of an ethics council Outcomes if breach of appropriate judicial

conduct: Criticism (2002 – 2013 = 61 times criticism) Warning (2002 - 2013 = 4 times warning)

Often complaints on length of proceedings. here the chief judge is asked to report to Committee on his/her supervision on concerned case

The DISPUTE ACT

December 6, 201411

Entered into force January 1st 2008Main content – a new culture!

All judges should handle their cases more speedily, judgement within 6 months

The President have to check out those judges that do not watch their workload

If a judge is working too slow with a case, the President should then handle the case himself or give it to the next judge on the distribution list

Distribution of Civil Cases

December 6, 201412

It is important that the parties can not decide which jugde is to decide the matter

No judge could pick their own cases The distribution should be random It performed on my behalf by a leading official If a judge can not have the next the case, we

skip to the next judge on the distribution list

Distribution of Criminal matters

December 6, 201413

Also by random Distributed to the first judge who is available

to take the case Cases where the main hearing lasts for more

than 10 days, is distributed according to a list with such cases

In Norway the judges have both criminal and civil cases

The Management Criteria in Norwegian Courts

December 6, 201414

Five Principles

December 6, 201415

Should form the foundation for all management and strategic work in the courts:

Professionally competent Result-oriented Employee-oriented User-oriented Development-oriented

On leadership

December 6, 201416

A high level of professional competence promotes trust in the courts and their legitimacy.The Court President is responsible for the court having a high professional level. The Court President must be a professional source of inspiration for all employees. The Court President must stimulate and ensure continuous professional development among all who work in the court. The Court President must therefore have a high level of professional expertise and analytical abilities.

1 : Professionally competent

December 6, 201417

For the Court Manager/Chief Judge, this entails requirements of:

setting goals for the court's activitiesimplementing measures for achieving the established goalsensuring rapid case processingcontinuous development of routines

2: Result - oriented

December 6, 201418

For the Court Manager/Chief Judge, this entails requirements of:

setting goals for the court's activities

implementing measures for achieving the

established goals

ensuring rapid case processing

continuous development of routines

3: Employee - oriented

December 6, 201419

For the Court Manager/Chief Judge, this entails requirements of:

being open, honest, enthusiastic, motivational

and generous

strengthening team spirit and cooperation

setting requirements and delegating authority

conflict management

4: User - oriented

December 6, 201420

For the Court Manager/Chief Judge, this entails requirements of:

interacting with partners and other stakeholders,

including clarifying reciprocal expectations

strengthening of information and communication

about the courts and their activities

openness

ensuring users' access to the court

5: Development - oriented

December 6, 201421

For the Court Manager/Chief Judge, this entails requirements of:

developing all aspects of the courts' activities,

including expertise, work processes, systems and

employees

creating productive learning arenas

creating good learning processes

working in a targeted manner on developing quality in a

broad sense

focused and systematic work on developing employees

Scoreboard in Civil & Criminal cases

December 6, 201422

To fulfill commitments to court management both in the Dispute Act and to society and expectations from NCA, it is of vital importance to have managerial tools

You must have a scoreboard, a CMS, and use it

CMS is first of all for the Court And it is very important as a tool for

management of the Court

The use of CMS

December 6, 201423

Monthly report on incoming, decided cases, undecided cases and time used on the decided cases.

Important to monitor the case load and to see if the Court is following the National Standards given for solving cases

Necessary for monitoring if the resources are being used on the right type of cases

Possible to monitor the case load of each judge Watch the number of unsolved cases Watch if the cases are handled with the speed

according to the law, and the national standards Watch if the verdicts are not delayed after the hearing

The use of CMS (2)

December 6, 201424

The Courts are there not for the personal, but for the user/the society

Try to create a culture for the importance of daily use of CMS

Regular use of CMS will hopefully lead to a culture that everyone in the Court will be interested in figures from the CMS

Talk about figures, but not only figures. Dont`t forget to talk about competence and quality!

Distribute to alle in the Court monthly figures for the court

Distribute to the judges the figures for him/her case load, incoming and decided cases

December 6, 201425

December 6, 201426

Average processing time30.11.13 143 days30.11.14 113 days

December 6, 201427

December 6, 201428

Unsolved cases

Civil cases Criminial cases

Total 254 99

3 months or older 139 12

6 months or older 97 3

9 months or older 51 1

12 months or older 36 0