Copyright 2010, The World Bank Group. All Rights Reserved. Judiciary Statistics Part 1 Crime, Justice & Security Statistics Produced in Collaboration between

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)


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)

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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

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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.

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Types of Courts StatisticsWhether 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 equipmentTargets could be set for each of these types of statistics

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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).

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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 statistics7


Workload Statistics – criminal example

Court….

Month……

Cases received Cases postponed

Cases completed

Cases waiting at end of month

Main offence type

Homicide

Assault

Robbery

Theft

Burglary

…….

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Workload Statistics - civil exampleCourt……

Month……

Cases received Cases postponed

Cases concluded

Cases outstanding at end of period

Type of civil case: eg

Land dispute

Property dispute

Commercial dispute

Stock dispute

Debt repayment

…………

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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

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Statistics on delays

Cases completed in last week of June ……..

Criminal Cases Court ……………….

Case reference Date registered Date completed Delay (in days)

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Workload trends

National Data 2004 2005 2006 2007

Cases received

Cases postponed

Cases dealt with

Cases waiting at end of period

Length of time to clear waiting lists

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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 guilty3. 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 evidence2. Cases where arbitration was agreed3. Cases with definitive decision in favour of one party

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Outcome Statistics – Criminal

Court…..

Month….

Homicide Assault Robbery Theft Sexual, ……

Cases completed

Cases dismissed

Cases found not guilty

Cases given custody

Cases given community sentence

Cases given fines

Total found guilty

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Output Statistics - Custody

Cases completed in ……..Month Court ………

Criminal cases given custody

Offence type

0-1 year 1-2 years 2-5 years 5-10 years

10 years+

Homicide 3

Robbery 1 4 7

Sexual 1 2

Burglary 1 4 5 8

Theft 7 8 12

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Output Statistics – Civil

Court……

Month…..

Land dispute Property dispute

Commercial dispute

Stock dispute

Debt repayment

Case dismissed

Case with arbitration

Case with definite decision

Total cases

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Outcome Trends

Office…….. 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Found Guilty (%)

Found Guilty

Given custody

Given community penalty

Given fine

Not guilty

Case dismissed

Total cases completed

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Documents

Copyright 2010, The World Bank Group. All Rights Reserved. Judiciary Statistics Part 1 Crime, Justice & Security Statistics Produced in Collaboration between