Quality Management in Courts

Bert Maan

What is quality?

• Two sorts of quality:– Legal quality– Quality as organisation

• Internal• external

Quality as organisation

• To what extent is the organisation able – to perform its function – to fulfil its mission

Organisation

• Public• Expectations– Speed– Efficiency– Behaviour and attitude– Information

Courthouse

• Identity• Opening hours• Security• Showing the way• Waiting rooms• Waiting time

Services

• Availability of tea/coffee;• Phones• Registries• Toilets

• PM: The evaluation of quality is the difference between the performance and the expectation.

Human resources

• Selection• Training and education• Personal development – career

Combination

• Legal task• Public organisation• Expectations by the public• Well functioning of judges and staff

Control through an integrated system.• EFQS or INK – or similar

Leadership

• Should not be too far away• Should be consistent• Should be supported by organisation

Links

• Between strategy and leadership;• Influence on employees at court• Influence on required tool• Control of the processes• Assessment • Final result• Learn and improve

Measuring

• MWO (employees survey)• Customer survey• Comments evaluation by society– Stakeholders– Media

In court

• Speed and consistence are part of quality– Registering incoming cases and output– Duration of pending cases– Efficiency

Organisational quality

– Performance• Management information each month

– Incoming cases;– Finished cases» Withdrawn» Settled» Interlocutory judgement» Final judgement

Legal quality

Who determines?– Colleagues– Lawyers– Parties– Complaints– Media– Appeal court

Methods

• Conferences with lawyers• Meetings to discuss • Jurisprudence• Own cases in appeal

Behaviour

• Training staff– (How to deal with angry people)

• Intervision• Sitting with three judges• Role of ushers

Legal quality

– Monitoring through• Advocates• Publication (rechtspraak.nl)• Complaints• Media• Appeals/cassation

Ensuring quality

– Case-law discussion– Presentations– Internal training/education;– Permanent education SSR– Intervision– Courses elsewhere

Human resources policy-tools

– periodic interview head of section– annual talks with court president– promotion– personal file

Quality - risks

• Identify risks: judge alone/single judge• Information on judges– Level of cooperation– Clerk/ judicial assistant – Report misbehaviour (informal)

What to measure

• Average duration;• Management of old cases• Percentage appeals• Number of complaints• Number of impartiality challenges

Measuring qualıty court

• MWO (employees survey)• Customer survey• Comments evaluation by society– Stakeholders– Media

Recommendations

• Keywords– Control– Management information– Quality of human resources– Public dimension– Leadership– Professionality

Result

• Using the tools, you wil obtain:– Management information;– Integrated human resources policy– Information about quality– Outcome of customer review– Result of employee review– Annual reporting

Trust

• Management of expectatıons

• In order to gain or maintain the confidence of society, transparency is the key word:– Say what you do– Do what you say– Show that you do what you say

Questions/observations?

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