Case Weighting Study Proposal for the Ukraine Court System

The program's main objectives include supporting USAID/Ukraine's assistance efforts in rule of law and democracy and governance through the development of a legislative and regulatory framework for judicial reform, strengthening the accountability and transparency of key judicial institutions and operations, strengthening the professionalism and effectiveness of the Ukrainian judiciary, and strengthening the role of civil society organizations as advocates for and monitors of judicial reform. Pursuant to Expected Result 3.2, Judicial Operations are Evaluated and Funded According to an Objective Assessment of Needs and Performance, FAIR is working to strengthen the capacity of the State Judicial Administration of Ukraine (SJA) to justify and present budget requests of Ukraine's judiciary. In support of this goal, FAIR assists the SJA and the Council of Judges of Ukraine (COJ) in the development and implementation of a case weighting study for the judges of general jurisdiction trial court by case types, required for the courts to be able to better formulate and justify their budget requests. An issue common to all court systems is determining the number of judges needed overall, in each type of court, and in each court location to fairly and efficiently process the cases filed in the courts. Rigorous scientific methods exist for determining the number of judges needed to process a court's caseload, which rely on the concept of case weights. Case weights are mathematical estimates of the average amount of time judges actually spend, from filing to termination, on cases of particular types. Using case weights, a weighted caseload for a court can be calculated by multiplying the number of cases of each type that are filed in a year by the weight for each case type. An integrated case weighting system would be useful in determining the necessary number and allocation of judges in the Ukrainian Court System, and in balancing workload among judges. The Ukrainian Court System has 666 local district courts to hear first instance civil cases, criminal cases, and select administrative cases, 27 regionally-located courts of appeals, each with separate civil and criminal chambers, to hear appeals from these first-instance courts, and a high specialized court in civil and criminal matters to hear appeals from the courts of appeals. For administrative cases, 27 local regional courts hear first instance cases, 7 courts of appeals hear appeals from the first instance administrative courts, and a high administrative court hears appeals from the administrative courts of appeals. A case weighting system could help determine the number of judges needed overall to process the cases filed in each court type (civil/criminal, administrative, economic) and level (first instance, courts of appeals, high court, Supreme Court), determine how those judges should be allocated across court locations, balance the workload of judges within and across courts, determine how many judges and how much time would be needed to process any backlog of cases in the courts, and prepare and provide objective support for budgetary requests by the courts. Prior judicial workload studies in Ukraine were conducted by the SJA in 2004, 2008, and 2011. The 2004 study examined the judicial time needed to process the criminal/civil/administrative cases in the local district courts and the courts of appeals, as well as the commercial cases filed in the local circuit economic courts and the courts of appeals. The study had two major components, one conducted by the Academy of Judges and the other by the SJA. The Academy of Judges conducted an objective time study, where judges reported the time they spent from receipt to final disposition on a sample of 900 civil/criminal/administrative cases and commercial cases in the trial courts. The SJA provided the data collection forms used, as well as a letter to the judges about the study. However, the study had limitations, including the small sample size and the lack of detailed information about the study design and data collection methods. The current project attempts to improve on the methods of the prior studies and thus the usefulness of the results. The proposed case weighting study will use a more comprehensive and rigorous approach to estimate the average time judges spend on cases of different types, and will provide a more accurate and useful measure of the required judicial work than a mere count of filings. The study will also provide objective support for budgetary requests by the courts and help determine the necessary number and allocation of judges in the Ukrainian Court System.