Figure 1
Historical series of the percentage of new electronic processes in Brazil. By the authors based on (CNJ, 2024).
Figure 2
Research Model.
Table 1
Descriptive statistics of variables.
| VARIABLE TYPE | VARIABLE | DESCRIPTION | UNIT OF MEASUREMENT | N | MEAN | STANDARD DEVIATION | MIN | MAX |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Treatment | procel1 | Percentage of cases filed electronically, to the total number of cases filed in the ordinary 1st level instance in the base period. | % | 378 | 0.587 | 0.420 | 0 | 1 |
| procelje | Percentage of cases filed electronically to the total number of cases filed in small claim courts in the base period. | % | 378 | 0.813 | 0.300 | 0 | 1 | |
| Dependent | iadccrim1 | Clearance rate: ratio of adjudication solved cases to the total of new cases in 1st instance of criminal ordinary courts in the base period. | Ratio | 378 | 1.164 | 0.545 | 0.323 | 5.201 |
| iadccrimje | Clearance rate: ratio of solved cases to the total of new cases in 1st instance of non-criminal ordinary courts in the base period. | Ratio | 378 | 1.090 | 0.247 | 0.402 | 2.127 | |
| iadcncrim1 | Clearance rate: ratio of adjudication solved cases to the total of new cases in 1st instance of non-criminal ordinary courts in the base period. | Ratio | 378 | 1.512 | 4.186 | 0 | 78.857 | |
| iadcncrimje | Clearance rate: ratio of solved cases to the total of new cases in 1st instance of criminal small claim courts in the base period. | Ratio | 378 | 1.092 | 0.383 | 0.424 | 6.232 | |
| tpsentc1m | Length of proceedings: duration of adjudication cases judged in 1st instance of ordinary courts between the date of filing and the day of sentence in the base period | The mean number of days | 239 | 766.31 | 480.21 | 75 | 6989 | |
| tpsentcjem | Length of proceedings: duration of cases judged in small claims courts between the date of filing and the day of sentence in the base period | The mean number of days | 239 | 303.37 | 174.22 | 75 | 1999 | |
| cpccrim1 | Pending cases: pending cases in 1st instance of criminal courts at the end of the period. | Number of cases (in thousands) | 378 | 162.58 | 220.95 | 1.39 | 1699.97 | |
| cpcncrim1 | Pending cases: pending cases in 1st instance of non-criminal courts at the end of the period. | Number of cases (in thousands) | 378 | 576.35 | 804.75 | 10.89 | 4488.06 | |
| cpccrimje | Pending cases: pending cases in small claims criminal courts at the end of the period. | Number of cases (in thousands) | 378 | 35.59 | 70.66 | 0 | 523.42 | |
| cpcncrimje | Pending cases: pending cases in small claims criminal courts at the end of the period. | Number of cases (in thousands) | 378 | 135.54 | 165.85 | 0 | 852.82 | |
| Control | dpjio | Court Budget: total state expenditure on the maintenance and payment of active staff (excludes expenditure on inactive staff and work) | Brazilian Real R$ (in billions) | 378 | 1.547 | 1.966 | 0.095 | 13.970 |
| dinf | IT budget: total state expenditure on the maintenance and payment of active staff (excludes expenditure on inactive staff and work) | Ratio of the total court budget | 378 | 0.026 | 0.015 | 0 | 0.087 | |
| mag1 | Number of judges in 1st instance ordinary courts, excluding leaves. | Ratio of the total court staff | 378 | 0.067 | 0.016 | 0.029 | 0.131 | |
| magje | Number of judges in small claims courts, excluding leaves. | Ratio of the total court staff | 378 | 0.019 | 0.009 | 0.004 | 0.048 | |
| sajud1 | Number of court clerks in 1st instance ordinary courts, excluding leaves. | Ratio of the total court staff | 378 | 0.771 | 0.082 | 0.538 | 0.944 | |
| sajudje | Number of court clerks in small claims courts, excluding leaves. | Ratio of the total court staff | 378 | 0.143 | 0.081 | 0 | 0.383 | |
| ch1 | Level of litigation: number of new cases in 1st instance ordinary courts | Number of cases per 100,000 inhabitants | 378 | 4724.56 | 1800.20 | 1589.83 | 13893.94 | |
| chje | Level of litigation: number of new cases in small claim courts | Number of cases per 100,000 inhabitants | 378 | 2263.45 | 1193.71 | 472.97 | 6360.70 |
Table 2
Results for the length of proceedings.
| VARIABLE | DESCRIPTION | (1) TPSENTC1M/100 DURATION OF ADJUDICATION CASES JUDGED IN 1ST INSTANCE OF ORDINARY COURTS | (2) TPSENTCJEM/100 DURATION OF CASES JUDGED IN SMALL CLAIMS COURTS |
|---|---|---|---|
| procel1 | Percentage of cases filed electronically out of the total number of cases filed in the ordinary 1st level instance in the base period. | –1.690 (1.656) | |
| procelje | Percentage of cases filed electronically out of the total number of cases filed in small claim courts in the base period. | 0.621 (1.220) | |
| dpjio | Court Budget: total state expenditure on the maintenance and payment of active staff | 0.187 (0.189) | –0.029 (0.026) |
| dnif | IT budget: Ratio of IT expenditure to total budget | 0.278 (15.527) | –13.707 (10.716) |
| sajud1 | Ratio of clerks to total court staff | –2.374 (4.650) | |
| sajudje | Ratio of clerks to total court staff | 1.192 (1.655) | |
| mag1 | Ratio of clerks to total court staff | 2.956 (31.404) | |
| magpje | Number of judges in small claims courts, excluding leaves. | 48.375*** (9.959) | |
| ch1 | Level of litigation: number of new cases in 1st instance ordinary courts | –0.001** (0.000) | |
| chje | Level of litigation: number of new cases in small claim courts | –0.0003* (0.0001) | |
| Observations | 239 | 239 | |
| R-squared | 0.127 | 0.184 | |
| Model | RE | RE |
[i] Notes: All models were estimated including a constant and year dummy variables. Robust standard errors are reported in parentheses. Regressions were estimated using either the Random Effects (RE) or Fixed Effects (FE) model, depending on the Hausman test results. Dependent variables were divided by 100 to facilitate reading of the coefficients. Statistical significance: ***p < 0.01, **p < 0.05, *p < 0.1.
Table 3
Results for the clearance rate.
| VARIABLE | DESCRIPTION | (1) IADCCRIM1 CLEARANCE RATE FOR ADJUDICATION CASES, 1ST INSTANCE OF CRIMINAL ORDINARY COURTS | (2) IADCNCRIM1 CLEARANCE RATE FOR ADJUDICATION CASES, 1ST INSTANCE OF NON-CRIMINAL ORDINARY COURTS | (3) IADCCRIMJE CLEARANCE RATE FOR ADJUDICATION CASES, CRIMINAL SMALL CLAIM COURTS | (4) IADCNCRIMJE CLEARANCE RATE FOR ADJUDICATION CASES, NON-CRIMINAL SMALL CLAIM COURTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| procel1 | Percentage of cases filed electronically, to the total number of cases filed in the ordinary 1st level instance in the base period. | –0.127 (0.231) | –0.030 (0.086) | ||
| procelje | Percentage of cases filed electronically to the total number of cases filed in small claim courts in the base period. | 0.563 (0.385) | –0.106 (0.156) | ||
| dpjio | Court Budget: total state expenditure on the maintenance and payment of active staff | 0.029 (0.020) | 0.011*** (0.004) | 0.009 (0.035) | 0.003 (0.006) |
| dnif | IT budget: total state expenditure on the maintenance and payment of active staff (excludes expenditure on inactive staff and work) | –0.847 (1.857) | –0.607 (1.092) | –8.281 (5.774) | –3.353** (1.690) |
| sajud1 | Number of court clerks in 1st instance ordinary courts, excluding leaves | 0.339 (0.462) | 0.032 (0.249) | ||
| sajudje | Number of court clerks in small claims courts, excluding leaves. | –1.415 (1.308) | 0.298 (0.464) | ||
| mag1 | Number of judges in 1st instance ordinary courts, excluding leaves. | 3.677** (1.826) | –1.282 (1.324) | ||
| magpje | Number of judges in small claims courts, excluding leaves. | –20.198 (15.919) | –3.314 (3.231) | ||
| ch1 | Level of litigation: number of new cases in 1st instance ordinary courts | –0.00002 (0.00003) | –6.20E-06 (0.00001) | ||
| Chje | Level of litigation: number of new cases in small claim courts | –0.0002 (0.0002) | –0.0001* (0.00003) | ||
| Observations | 378 | 378 | 378 | 378 | |
| R-squared | 0.079 | 0.090 | 0.046 | 0.089 | |
| Model | RE | RE | RE | RE |
[i] Notes: All models were estimated including a constant and year dummy variables. Robust standard errors are reported in parentheses; Regressions were estimated using either the Random Effects (RE) or Fixed Effects (FE) model, depending on the Hausman test results. Statistical significance: ***p < 0.01, **p < 0.05, *p < 0.1.
Table 4
Results for pending cases.
| VARIABLE | DESCRIPTION | (1) CPCCRIM1/100 PENDING CASES IN 1ST INSTANCE OF CRIMINAL COURTS | (2) CPCNCRIM1/100 PENDING CASES IN 1ST INSTANCE OF NON-CRIMINAL COURTS | (3) CPCCRIMJE/100 PENDING CASES IN SMALL CLAIM CRIMINAL COURTS | (4) CPCNCRIMJE/100 PENDING CASES IN SMALL CLAIM CRIMINAL COURTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| procel1 | Percentage of cases filed electronically, to the total number of cases filed in the ordinary 1st level instance in the base period. | 0.144 (0.218) | –0.394 (1.062) | ||
| procelje | Percentage of cases filed electronically to the total number of cases filed in small claim courts in the base period. | 0.043 (0.217) | 0.027 (0.450) | ||
| dpjio | Court Budget: total state expenditure on the maintenance and payment of active staff | –0.680** (0.320) | –0.633*** (0.158) | –0.212 (0.224) | –0.083 (0.219) |
| dnif | IT budget: total state expenditure on the maintenance and payment of active staff (excludes expenditure on inactive staff and work) | 6.172 (3.751) | 21.486* (10.662) | 0.727 (1.987) | 5.027 (7.520) |
| sajud1 | Number of court clerks in 1st instance ordinary courts, excluding leaves | –1.145 (0.904) | –0.830 (1.886) | ||
| sajudje | Number of court clerks in small claims courts, excluding leaves. | 0.151 (0.432) | 0.037 (1.700) | ||
| mag1 | Number of judges in 1st instance ordinary courts, excluding leaves. | 1.277 (3.202) | 18.287* (10.071) | ||
| magpje | Number of judges in small claims courts, excluding leaves. | 0.119 (3.056) | –3.580 (5.772) | ||
| ch1 | Level of litigation: number of new cases in 1st instance ordinary courts | –0.00002 (0.00004) | 0.0002 (0.0001) | ||
| chje | Level of litigation: number of new cases in small claim courts | 0.00008 (0.00006) | 0.0002** (0.0001) | ||
| Observations | 378 | 378 | 378 | 378 | |
| R-squared | 0.636 | 0.585 | 0.277 | 0.012 | |
| Model | FE | FE | FE | FE |
[i] Notes: All models were estimated including a constant and year dummy variables. Robust standard errors are reported in parentheses. Regressions were estimated using either the Random Effects (RE) or Fixed Effects (FE) model, depending on the Hausman test results. Dependent variables were divided by 100 to facilitate reading of the coefficients. statistical significance: ***p < 0.01, **p < 0.05, *p < 0.1.