Table 1
Frameworks for the measurement of court performance.
| FRAMEWORK | DIMENSIONS | TOTAL PARAMETERS SUGGESTED |
|---|---|---|
| Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA, 1997) | 1. Access to justice 2. Expedition and timeliness 3. Equality, fairness, and integrity 4. Independence and accountability 5. Public trustand confidence | 21 |
| The international framework of court excellence, 3rd Edition (IFCE, 2020) | 1. Court leadership and, management 2. Strategiccourt management 3. Court workforce 4. Court infrastructure, proceedings, andprocesses 5. Client user engagement 6. Affordable and accessible courtservices 7. Public trust and confidence | 19 |
| European Commission for the efficiency of justice (CEPEJ, 2014) | 1. Strategy and policyof the courts 2. Human resources and status of thejudiciary 3. Means of justice including finance, ICT, and operationsprocess 4. Access to justice 5. Public trust and confidence | 115 |
| The international framework of court excellence (IFCE, 2020) A global measure of court performance (GMCP) | 1. Court user satisfaction 2. Access fees 3. Case clearance rate 4. Online caseprocessing 5. Pre-trial custody 6. Court file integrity 7. Case backlog 8. Trial date certainty 9. Employee engagement 10. Compliance with court orders 11. Cost per case | 11 |
Table 2
Themes, sub-themes, and descriptive codes.
| THEME | SUB THEME | DESCRIPTIVE CODES |
|---|---|---|
| Delay | Delay due to judges | Judges are mostly responsible for the delay. |
| Judges are not responsible for delay. | ||
| Judges don’t want to take the decision. | ||
| Judges are very defensive in decision making. | ||
| Judges don’t want to create conflict with politicians. | ||
| Judges also do not sit in the office. | ||
| Judges don’t want to work. | ||
| Delay in decision making. | ||
| Judges accept requests of the bar association for strike. | ||
| Lack of punctuality. | ||
| Judges should understand the seriousness of the cases and do fast and fair and justice. | ||
| The intentional delay should be stopped. | ||
| Delay due to advocates | Advocates intentionally seek an adjournment to provide relief to their clients. | |
| Strikes by advocates. | ||
| Non-preparedness of lawyers. | ||
| Incompetent advocates due to the reservation in law colleges. | ||
| Intentional delay to earn more money. | ||
| Delay due to staff | Lack of punctuality by the staff. | |
| Staff should focus on work. | ||
| Lack of sincerity in the staff. | ||
| Incompetency in duties. | ||
| Lack of proper training. | ||
| Delay due to clients | delays | |
| Delay due to procedural reasons | Vacancy of judges in the courts. | |
| Staff shortage in the courts. | ||
| The executive is responsible for the delay. | ||
| Shortage of police staff. | ||
| E-court will decrease case disposal time. | ||
| Police should be honest. | ||
| Proceedings should be transparent. | ||
| Multiple cases of advocates at the same time. | ||
| Lesser fine for repeated adjournment. | ||
| Charge sheets should be filed within minimum time. | ||
| Reservation system in the judiciary is one of the causes for adjournment. | ||
| Civil litigation takes more time. | ||
| No solution is possible for adjournment. | ||
| There should be a citizen charter for time-based case disposal. | ||
| High courts should be strict. | ||
| Cases should be transferred to judges according to their experience of specialization. | ||
| If the judge wants then also, she cannot give the decision. The procedure is time-consuming and complicated. | ||
| There should be separation of judicial and executive works. | ||
| Bar and bench coordination is necessary for better performance. | ||
| Barriers of legal process. | ||
| Judges are not strict against the corruption of the court staff. | ||
| The concerned people should understand court procedures and proceedings. | ||
| Access to justice | Access to public proceedings | The court should be approachable. |
| There should be a proper information system in place. | ||
| Safety | Perception of feeling safe in the court. | |
| Adequate resources | Shortage of judges in the courts. | |
| Training of staff is important. | ||
| Shortage of court staff. | ||
| Digitalization should be very fast. | ||
| Infrastructure such as furniture, cleanliness, sitting arrangement. | ||
| Effective participation | Corruption is a hurdle in effective participation. | |
| Court procedures should be understood by common people. | ||
| Respect and responsiveness | Sincerity and sensitivity of judges. | |
| Listening to the clients and advocates by judges. | ||
| The behaviour of the court towards the poor. | ||
| Cost effectiveness | Legal aid support level. | |
| Cost of pursuing court cases. | ||
| Public Trust | People have fear about court cases. | |
| I have trust in the court system. | ||
| The reputation of the court in the eyes of clients. | ||
| Judges have nexus with other corrupt judges. | ||
| Disgruntled with the judicial system. | ||
| The legal system is corrupt. | ||
| Rich people get punishment only if the case is highlighted in the media. | ||
| Quality of judicial decisions | Lack of privacy in file management due to temporary staff. Anyone can access files from the record room by paying a bribe to temporary staff. There is no accountability regarding the privacy of files. | |
| There should be a detailed explanation of court judgments. | ||
| Judges sometimes do not apply judicial mind. | ||
| In bench and bar disputes. The tribunal should do contempt of court proceedings. | ||
| Quality of judgment. | ||
| Strictness of courts. | ||
| Reversal of decision by the higher court can be a criterion of quality of judgment. | ||
| Independence and accountability | Independence | Bar council and bar association have terrible effects on the judiciary. Office-bearers of the bar creates influence on judges to decide on their favors |
| Independence of judges to give judgment. | ||
| Accountability | There is a lack of accountability of judges. | |
| No accountability of judges. | ||
| No opinion about accountability. | ||
| Yes, judges have accountability towards superior courts. | ||
| Judges misuse their independence for personal gains. | ||
| Independence and accountability should persist together. | ||
| Lack of transparency. | ||
| The procedure is transparent, but decision-making is not transparent. | ||
| Adherence to the procedures by judges and court staff. | ||
| Fairness | Judges can easily manipulate cases. | |
| Prejudice in many cases, such as dowry and domestic violence cases. | ||
| The extent of corruption. | ||
| Bail and punishment decisions should be taken without any discrimination. | ||
| Judges should ensure that the weaker section does not feel the additional pressure of the trial process. | ||
| Documents should be safe. Court staff hire their individual staff on cheap wages without the knowledge of judges. This practice can be harmful to the safety of documents. | ||
| Judges should ensure that the weaker section does not feel the additional pressure of the trial process. | ||
| Documents should be safe. Court staff hire their individual staff on cheap wages without the knowledge of judges. This practice can be harmful to the safety of documents. | ||
| Quantitative indicators | - | Average time of case resolution. |
| Evidence recorded per month. | ||
| Total time spent by the judge in the court. | ||
| The number of files disposed of by a judge. | ||
| Per month witnessing done. | ||
| Per month case hearing done. |
Table 3
Results of the EFA of Court Performance Scale.
| ITEMS | 1 | 2 | 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Factor 1: Quality of Judicial Activity | |||
| LP6. Judges take proceedings of cases very seriously. | .837 | .020 | .070 |
| LP5. Judges are sensitive in cases that they hear | .799 | –.011 | .026 |
| LP19. Judges pay attention to the documents of each case. | .781 | –.026 | –.093 |
| LP17. Punishment is given in court without any bias. | .715 | –.004 | –.093 |
| LP18. Bail decisions are taken without any discrimination. | .693 | –.016 | –.152 |
| LP23. Judges consider all the aspects of a case while passing judgment. | .545 | .148 | –.143 |
| LP9. Judges ensure that progress takes place in listed cases every day. | .434 | .187 | –.097 |
| LP25. There is no outer influence on judges. | .408 | .060 | –.256 |
| LP22. Judges clearly mention the implementation authority in their judgments. | .365 | .205 | –.039 |
| LP28. Judges provide a rationale for their decisions. | .263 | .255 | –.181 |
| LP24. Fines and other punishments are enforced effectively. | .263 | .220 | –.192 |
| Factor 2: Access to Justice | |||
| LP7. I can easily obtain the status of my case from the concerned court. | .024 | .596 | .028 |
| LP10. I feel safe in the court premises. | .114 | .584 | .041 |
| LP12. Court staff act fairly with me. | .004 | .572 | –.098 |
| LP13. Judges behave courteously with me | .326 | .447 | .019 |
| LP14. The cost of pursuing a court case is reasonable. | -.061 | .437 | –.202 |
| LP15. Legal aid is provided to needy people conveniently. | .223 | .371 | –.061 |
| LP16. Courts are punctual. | .293 | .309 | –.197 |
| Factor 3: Public Trust | |||
| LP37. The court process is fair and consistent. | -.007 | .065 | –.839 |
| LP34. The court is effective in battling crime. | .071 | –.112 | –.794 |
| LP35. Court treats everyone equally without any bias. | .169 | .003 | –.737 |
| LP33. Everyone gets justice in the court. | .149 | –.076 | –.713 |
| LP36. I am satisfied with the system of the court. | -.063 | .291 | –.660 |
| LP32. I have trust in the court system | .014 | .167 | –.561 |
| LP31. Courts provide confidence to witnesses regarding their safety. | .058 | .320 | –.387 |
| LP27. Most judges are impartial in disposing of their duties. | .255 | .223 | –.318 |
| LP30. Judges ensure that the weaker section does not feel the additional pressure of the trial process. | .237 | .176 | –.289 |
| LP26. It is difficult to influence a judge by using pressure tactics. | .219 | .072 | –.257 |