1 Demystifying Court and Case Management Part 2 – Using US models and international standards within the development context Heike Gramckow, Ph.D. Deputy Director, International Division National Center for State Courts

2 Demystifying Court and Case Management – Part 2 International experiences show that US-type management processes and international standards are helpful tools for successful changes in other legal settings Lessons learned abroad are not much different from experiences across the different US state court system The problems and solutions are similar – the scale is different

3 Transferring Standards and Tools Most principles and mechanisms of modern court management and case management can be universally applied Need to be adjusted to the individual court environment – national and local level Consider variations in laws, financial and staff resources and local legal cultures

4 How to plan… 1.Identify needs of courts and their communities Assess case- and workloads, processing impediments, resources, court and other participants’ needs and attitudes 2.Use results to design reforms, as communication tool for gaining support, and for monitoring Use design and measurement tools with adjustments

5 How to implement… Consider regulations, resources, attitudes and their impact on the ability of the courts to manage their operations and processes Introduce procedural changes, with or without statutory or regulatory changes Take a holistic view – changes trigger changes and elsewhere in the system

6 Building a constituency for Change Use adequate data for developing meaningful standards and other management techniques Use the data to explain to key judicial system players how and to what extent different managements mechanism impact processing and their own roles and operations Develop ownership for change processes Change management and training Build in time and effort to gain the understanding and support of key players outside of the court system

7 The long road to success… Accomplishing changes in court operations and processes requires planning, commitment from the court and changes in the way the local legal culture views court operations Changing processes and laws takes time, changing attitudes takes even more time … Where to start and why this is not so simple …

8 Key elements of court administration & management Court management and administration Caseflow management PR and communications Leadership and policy Visioning & planning Core court business management: case preparation, adjudication, enforcement, infrastructure Research and statistics IT management Education and training HR management Resources, budget & Finance management

9 Defining the 3 dimensions of each court management element within the country context Resources Agreed-upon “standards” for location, discretion, process Justice system and court goals and legal framework

10 In other words … International models, tools and standards help in defining: What does each element mean within country context and what is possible? Who decides what? Who does what? And why are changes needed? What is needed for successful change? Priorities, measures and realistic goals …But there is no one size fits all!

11 ROL questions and court reform 1. Are the different instrumental rationales for rule of work (the rule of law facilitates economic development; the rule of law is necessary for democracy) well-grounded and true? 2. If we accept that much rule of law assistance has been too focused on central legal institutions, what are some useful alternatives? 3. What do we know about the impact of rule of law assistance? 4. Why is learning about how to improve rule of law assistance and about impact so difficult and elusive? 5. Is there such a thing as a common rule of law agenda or is the concept essentially too broad and multifaceted to constitute a coherent agenda?