Copyright 2010, The World Bank Group. All Rights Reserved. Judiciary Statistics Part 1 Crime, Justice & Security Statistics Produced in Collaboration between World Bank Institute and the Development Data Group (DECDG)

Copyright 2010, The World Bank Group. All Rights Reserved. Relation to other Modules Judiciary Statistics do not exist on their own. They are closely related to statistics from other agencies, the Modules of these could also be studied with benefit: Module 1 (Governance, especially the central Statistical Office) Module 3 (Police) Module 4 (Prosecution) Modules 6 and 7 (Probation and Prisons) 2

Copyright 2010, The World Bank Group. All Rights Reserved. Courts process – criminal cases Police catch criminals and pass them to the prosecutor, who decides if they are to be prosecuted. Many defendants are kept in prison until their trial. This can take several months or longer. A high proportion of guilty cases conclude with the criminal committed to prison or the probation service. Appeals will be made against some courts decisions, some of which will be successful. This takes time. All this needs careful monitoring with courts statistics 3

Copyright 2010, The World Bank Group. All Rights Reserved. Court process - civil cases Courts also accept civil cases in which two parties argue their claims Some cases involve an individual against a large organisation Others involve two individuals or two large organisations The government can also be involved Outcomes of such cases are important in showing that the law applies equally to all, rich and poor Many courts deal with both civil and criminal cases using the same resources. The courts have to monitor both caseloads. 4

Copyright 2010, The World Bank Group. All Rights Reserved. Types of Courts Statistics Whether civil or criminal cases are being considered, there are three basic types of statistics that will be useful for managing and reporting on the courts service. 1.Workload Statistics, which show the number of cases that the court is faced with 2.Outcome Statistics, which show the results of cases that the court has dealt with whether civil or criminal 3.Resource Statistics, including staff, buildings, and equipment Targets could be set for each of these types of statistics 5

Copyright 2010, The World Bank Group. All Rights Reserved. Source of court data Data-collection is designed for the local court: counting starts when an individual enters the court to start his case. Court staff open a file for each new case. Information in each case file forms the basis of data collection. Case files should contain information on (Criminal Cases) Unique case identifier for each offender, Number of charges (by type of offence) Dates of all court appearances, Decision of the court, type of sentence given and its magnitude, Basic characteristics of each offender (eg. age and sex, tribe). 6

Copyright 2010, The World Bank Group. All Rights Reserved. Workload Statistics – General Workload Statistics show the amount of work that the court has dealt with over a particular period These will usually be the cases (criminal and civil) that the court deals with But other decisions will need to be recorded as they use up resources and are often considered separately from the main case Data can usefully be collected on a monthly basis from each local court Statistics of delays should also be collected with workload statistics 7

Copyright 2010, The World Bank Group. All Rights Reserved. Workload Statistics – criminal example Court…. Month…… Cases receivedCases postponed Cases completed Cases waiting at end of month Main offence type Homicide Assault Robbery Theft Burglary ……. 8

Copyright 2010, The World Bank Group. All Rights Reserved. Workload Statistics - civil example Court…… Month…… Cases receivedCases postponed Cases concluded Cases outstanding at end of period Type of civil case: eg Land dispute Property dispute Commercial dispute Stock dispute Debt repayment ………… 9

Copyright 2010, The World Bank Group. All Rights Reserved. Workload Statistics – Classifications The court does not need to collect a large amount of detailed workload statistics But it will need to ensure that the classifications used are the same as those used by the police, the prosecution service and other civil agencies This is to make sure that data can be compared uniformly across all agencies An example is the broad offence classification, which will need to be agreed at a Crime Statistics Committee usually chaired by the CSO 10

Copyright 2010, The World Bank Group. All Rights Reserved. Statistics on delays Cases completed in last week of June …….. Criminal Cases Court ………………. Case referenceDate registeredDate completedDelay (in days) 11

Copyright 2010, The World Bank Group. All Rights Reserved. Workload trends National Data Cases received Cases postponed Cases dealt with Cases waiting at end of period Length of time to clear waiting lists 12

Copyright 2010, The World Bank Group. All Rights Reserved. Outcome statistics – general The courts decide whether those charged are guilty and what sentence they are given: This involves monitoring: 1.Cases dismissed for lack of evidence: 2.Those found not guilty 3.Sentences given for those found guilty Courts also have to decide between the parties in civil cases: this involves monitoring: 1.Cases dismissed for lack of evidence 2.Cases where arbitration was agreed 3.Cases with definitive decision in favour of one party 13

Copyright 2010, The World Bank Group. All Rights Reserved. Outcome Statistics – Criminal Court….. Month…. HomicideAssaultRobberyTheftSexual, …… Cases completed Cases dismissed Cases found not guilty Cases given custody Cases given community sentence Cases given fines Total found guilty 14

Copyright 2010, The World Bank Group. All Rights Reserved. Output Statistics - Custody Cases completed in ……..Month Court ……… Criminal cases given custody Offence type 0-1 year1-2 years2-5 years5-10 years 10 years+ Homicide3 Robbery147 Sexual12 Burglary1458 Theft

Copyright 2010, The World Bank Group. All Rights Reserved. Output Statistics – Civil Court…… Month….. Land disputeProperty dispute Commercial dispute Stock dispute Debt repayment Case dismissed Case with arbitration Case with definite decision Total cases 16

Copyright 2010, The World Bank Group. All Rights Reserved. Outcome Trends Office…… Found Guilty (%) Found Guilty Given custody Given community penalty Given fine Not guilty Case dismissed Total cases completed 17