Developing Specialized Court Services : International Experiences and Lessons Learned
Court specialization is commonly considered to be an important reform initiative to advance the development of a successful judicial system. Court specialization is thought useful even to address broader development constraints, such as the need fo...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Working Paper |
| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2014
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2013/01/18417537/developing-specialized-court-services-international-experiences-lessons-learned http://hdl.handle.net/10986/16677 |
| Summary: | Court specialization is commonly
considered to be an important reform initiative to advance
the development of a successful judicial system. Court
specialization is thought useful even to address broader
development constraints, such as the need for more effective
access to contract enforcement, improvements in the
investment climate, or more adequate protection of the
environment. These studies have also pointed to some
drawbacks, however. For example, special attention to, and
the allocation of additional resources for, handling
business cases can lead to the perception that a court
provides preferential services to the business community but
not the average person. Judges may also develop too close a
relationship with a particular group of lawyers and interest
groups that are involved in special case types, especially
if those groups are relatively small and if judges serve in
this special capacity exclusively and for an extended
period. This report outlines the international experiences
and good practices related to establishing specialized
courts and creating the associated judicial expertise. It
specifically highlights the information that is needed to
determine if specialization is required in particular areas,
as well as the specialization model that may be most
appropriate, the requirements of the different models, and
the approaches to training and selecting judges for special
assignments. The paper also outlines the next steps a
jurisdiction might take to examine the potential need and
demand for further specialized judicial services and to
consider what would be needed to meet those which are justified. |
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