Marco Fabri

Court Management: A Young Field of Public Management

Court management as a field of research was the result of several factors, for example the debate on New Public Management (NPM) or the activities of the European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice (CEPEJ). The Permanent Study Group (PSG) XVIII justice and court administration began its activities in 2012. The participants have so far been researchers and practitioners from courts and from judicial administrations. This mix has proved to be interesting and there was a lot of successful knowledge sharing. The strategy for PSG XVIII will be to continue to combine forces with established groups and networks in Europe and beyond.

Comparing the number of judges and court staff across European countries1

ABSTRACT This paper raises some methodological issues when a comparative approach is used to compare the number of judges and court personnel in European judiciaries. Data come from the Commission for the Efficiency of Justice (CEPEJ) of the Council of Europe, which also is the main source for the European Union Justice Scoreboard. Some proposals are made to improve the collection of data and, then, increasing their comparability. The paper shows how an assessment on the number of judges and court personnel can benefit from a cross country comparative perspective, but only if quantitative analysis come together with in-depth qualitative studies.