Occupational Stress Among India’s District Judges: An Exploratory Study?

SN	STRESSORS	PERCENTAGE (FREQUENCY)
SN	STRESSORS	AGREE	DISAGREE	NOT SURE
1	Heavy workload	88 (44)	10 (5)	2 (1)
2	Apprehension of frivolous complaints to vigilance	73.46 (36)	18.36 (9)	8.16 (4)
3	Too many administrative and extra judicial responsibilities	72.91 (35)	20.83 (10)	6.25 (3)
4	Bar Antagonism	69.38 (34)	22.44 (11)	8.16 (4)
5	Lack of control over the people appearing before them (ill-prepared, inadequate, or abusive counsel)	63.26 (31)	30.61 (15)	6.12 (3)
6	Absence of control over the caseload	60.41 (29)	31.25 (15)	8.33 (4)
7	Personal/family problems of the judge	58.33 (28)	35.41 (17)	6.25 (3)
8	Sensitive matters	57.14 (28)	34.69 (17)	8.16 (4)
9	Withholding job incentives like promotions, increments, convenient transfers, etc.	55.10 (27)	34.69 (17)	12.75 (5)
10	Increased public expectation	55.10 (27)	36.73 (18)	8.16 (4)
11	Need for extensive and continued study	52.08 (25)	37.50 (18)	10.41(5)
12	Excessive need to control one’s environment	51.02 (25)	38.77 (19)	10.20 (5)

Table 2

Stress concerns of district judges at the judging stage.

SN	STRESSORS	PERCENTAGE (FREQUENCY)
SN	STRESSORS	VERY OFTEN	RARELY	NOT AT ALL
1	Highly technical cases	12.50 (6)	58.33 (28)	29.16 (14)
2	Deciding with no satisfactory outcomes	12.24 (6)	59.18 (29)	28.57 (14)
3	Execution of judgment is difficult	16.00 (8)	54.00 (27)	30.00 (15)
4	Want of sufficient evidence	38.77 (19)	30.61 (15)	30.61 (15)
5	Adjudicating matters with high judicial discretion	12.24 (6)	48.97 (24)	38.77 (19)
6	Issues involving legal vs moral perspective	14.00 (7)	46.00 (23)	40.00 (20)

Table 3

Workplace/infrastructural limitations that may cause stress in district judges.

SN	STRESSORS	PERCENTAGE (FREQUENCY)
SN	STRESSORS	VERY OFTEN	RARELY	NOT AT ALL
1	Inadequate staff	71.42 (35)	26.53 (13)	2.04 (1)
2	Lack of ICT infrastructure	43.75 (21)	39.58 (19)	16.66 (8)
3	Unfurnished courtrooms	48.97 (24)	28.57 (14)	22.44 (11)
4	Unmanageable staff	36.00 (18)	36.00 (18)	28.00 (14)
5	Conflict with court staff and lawyers	22.00 (11)	46.00 (23)	32.00 (16)
6	Seniority-based elevation	26.00 (13)	34 (17)	40 (20)

Table 4

Personal stress triggers in district judges.

SN	STRESSORS	PERCENTAGE (FREQUENCY)
SN	STRESSORS	VERY OFTEN	RARELY	NOT AT ALL
1	Frequent interruptions in children’s education because of transfers	54.16 (26)	27.08 (13)	18.75 (9)
2	The demise of parents and other relatives or ill-health of aged parents	40.00 (20)	44.00 (22)	16.00 (8)
3	Lifestyle diseases	37.50 (18)	41.66 (20)	20.83(10)

Table 5

Key service conditions causing stress among district judges.

SN	STRESSORS	PERCENTAGE (FREQUENCY)
SN	STRESSORS	VERY OFTEN	RARELY	NOT AT ALL
1	Frequent Transfers	54.16 (26)	27.08 (13)	18.75 (9)
2	Infrequent or premature transfer or arbitrary transfer	42.85 (21)	34.69 (17)	22.44 (11)
3	Withholding the elevation/promotion for unknown or trivial reasons	45.83 (22)	25.00 (12)	29.16 (14)
4	Non-consideration of representation against inconvenient transfer in time or dismissing the representation without considering the circumstances	35.41 (17)	31.25 (15)	33.33 (16)
5	Concerns about ACR remarks	34.69 (17)	30.61 (15)	34.69 (17)

Table 6

Key psychological stress symptoms among district judges.

SN	STRESSORS	PERCENTAGE (FREQUENCY)
SN	STRESSORS	VERY OFTEN	RARELY	NOT AT ALL
1	Trouble remembering things	18 (9)	58 (27)	24 (12)
2	Temper outbursts that the judge could not control	22 (11)	48 (24)	30 (15)
3	Sleeplessness	30 (15)	40 (20)	30 (15)
4	Feeling that you are not being appreciated for your hard work	34 (17)	34 (17)	32 (16)

Table 7

The Chi-Square Test of Independence in relation to various stressors among district judges.

SN	VARIABLES	X² VALUE	N	P VALUE	PHI (Ɵ) VALUE
1	Heavy workload * Absence of control over the caseload	26.04	48 (27)	0.001	0.722
2	Heavy workload * Need continued and extensive study	29.71	48 (23)	0.001	0.771
3	Heavy workload * Personal/family problems of the judge	26.23	48 (26)	0.001	0.724
4	Heavy workload * Too much subordination or too much interference from the higher courts	51.40	49 (21)	0.001	1.010
5	Heavy workload * Apprehension of frivolous complaints to vigilance	52.05	49 (36)	0.001	1.020
6	Heavy workload * Bar antagonism, friction and increased boycotts	51.31	49 (31)	0.001	1.010
7	Heavy workload * Increased public expectation	50.50	49(24)	0.001	1.000
8	Heavy workload * Too many administrative and extrajudicial responsibilities	28.18	48(33)	0.001	0.751

Table 8

Determinants of psychological and physiological stress.

VARIABLES	(MODEL-1) PSYCHOLOGICAL	(MODEL-2) PHYSIOLOGICAL
Stress concerns at the judging stage	0.110	0.264
Stress concerns at the judging stage	(0.147)	(0.261)
Workplace Limitations	–0.186	–0.248
Workplace Limitations	(0.135)	(0.240)
Personal stress triggers	0.155	0.357*
Personal stress triggers	(0.116)	(0.206)
Service conditions	0.465***	0.319
Service conditions	(0.111)	(0.198)
Experience category	0.0402	–0.0480
Experience category	(0.0485)	(0.0860)
Constant	0.177	0.605***
Constant	(0.121)	(0.215)
Observations (N)	45	45
R-squared	0.577	0.349

[i] Standard errors in parentheses.

***p < 0.01, **p < 0.05, *p < 0.1.

Table 9

Service conditions as stressors.

VARIABLES	PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS
Frequent transfers	–0.000928
Frequent transfers	(0.0956)
Arbitrary transfers	0.151
Arbitrary transfers	(0.141)
Non-considerations of representation	–0.0743
Non-considerations of representation	(0.0869)
Additional special court works	0.0739
Additional special court works	(0.0585)
Withholding promotions	0.0257
Withholding promotions	(0.0681)
Allotment of uninteresting portfolios	0.0228
Allotment of uninteresting portfolios	(0.0817)
ACR Concerns	0.128**
ACR Concerns	(0.0558)
Non-cordial relations with admin judges	0.0971
Non-cordial relations with admin judges	(0.0633)
Less scope for higher studies	0.0499
Less scope for higher studies	(0.0710)
Constant	0.253***
Constant	(0.0864)
Observations	47
R-squared	0.546

[i] Standard errors in parentheses.

***p < 0.01, **p < 0.05, *p < 0.1.

Table 10

Personal stress triggers in district judges.

VARIABLES	PHYSIOLOGICAL FACTORS
Frequent transfers affecting children’s studies	0.00879
Frequent transfers affecting children’s studies	(0.114)
Demise of parents/relatives	0.0499
Demise of parents/relatives	(0.116)
Lack of opportunities for spouse	0.0530
Lack of opportunities for spouse	(0.117)
Divorce or death of spouse	0.152
Divorce or death of spouse	(0.0982)
Lifestyle diseases	0.393***
Lifestyle diseases	(0.144)
Demanding family status	–0.303**
Demanding family status	(0.146)
Personal incompetencies	0.180
Personal incompetencies	(0.121)
Constant	0.418**
Constant	(0.168)
Observations (N)	45
R-squared	0.403

[i] Standard errors in parentheses.

***p < 0.01, **p < 0.05, *p < 0.1.

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.36745/ijca.569 | Journal eISSN: 2156-7964

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Language: English

Page range: 5 - 5

Published on: Apr 28, 2025

Published by: International Association for Court Administration

In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services

Keywords:

Cognitive Appraisal Theory,

District Judges,

Judicial Stress,

Judicial Stress Model,

Judicial Autonomy,

Judicial Regulation

© 2025 Shivaraj Huchhanavar, Shamim Mohammad, Vikash Vaibhav, published by International Association for Court Administration
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Volume 16 (2025): Issue 1