A CASE STUDY OF THE COURT CALENDAR SYSTEM

A Case Study of Court Calendar System Names here Learning Team Criminal Justice Management Theory and Practice/454 Date here Professor

A Case Study of the Court Calendar System A Case Study of Court Calendar System This case study attempts to assess the effect and outcome of the implementation of the hybrid calendar system in small-sized court. It goes on answering the pros and cons of the

potentially new and innovative way of scheduling criminal and civil cases hearing. It also tries to compare the hybrid calendar system with the other types of court hearing scheduling system such as individual calendar system and master calendar system. In addition, provided herein is an in depth understanding of the juvenile court in view of the hybrid calendar system. This case study is made possible to formulate and to come up with a solution that will resolve the predicament both of the courts and the litigants in providing and employing a faster expedition of case/s and quicker provision of justice for the concerned parties and developing an efficient and effective justice system. Overview of the Hybrid Calendar System The hybrid calendar system from the term itself is a combination of the master calendar system and the individual calendar system. This calendar scheduling captured the essentials of these two systems to create a potentially better one. The hybrid calendar system assigned judges in hearing, trying and deciding a particular civil case while still keeping intact the monthly rotation of the bench in hearing, trying and deciding the criminal casesso that there is an opportunity for judges to breathe fresh from the boring civil cases routine. The hybrid calendar system provides the judges both the advantages of the two separate types of court scheduling and maximizes the use of court personnel and trial judges (Peak, 2010). The hybrid calendar system is not all advantageous; it also poses difficulties. This type of court scheduling unfortunately generate unpredictability for litigants. Since there is no definite assignment of judges in the criminal case docket, the concerned party will not have full

A Case Study of the Court Calendar System knowledge of the personality of the arbitrator of their case for the preceding hearings. A confused litigant will definitely question the capacity of the judge in adjudicating the case.

Moreover, a confused litigant might be prejudiced to the reputation of the judges who will handle his case especially during delays and postponements in the course of the trial (Peak, 2010). Hybrid calendar system also poses incomplete discernment of judges in the case at hand. Rotation of the bench creates loopholes in the outlook of the judges in the entirety of the criminal case. It also requires a new review stint of the case every time rotation happens. Time is of precious holding and every time a judge does the same in every case, wastage of considerable amount of time just in reviewing again the facts therein happensas a result backlogs increases. This time wastage is unnecessary and intolerable for it is inefficient and unproductive in case disposition (Peak, 2010). Rotation of cases also stains the outlook of the people in the judicial system. Hybrid calendar system requires the judge to handle the entirety of a specific civil case while it obliges rotation of judges in the criminal cases in every specific period. Thus, judges full grasp of the case is really at stake in this type of calendar system. Since in a trial there is a winning and losing party, one cannot tell when an aggravated and confused litigant might exploit this drawback of the hybrid calendar system and allege his loss on judges incapacity to take merits of his case or contend the decision of the case due to judges lack of discernment to decide on the case. With this, ruling of mistrial is possible and the worst thing that might happen is for a guilty criminal to bail out from his crime and the poor victim to suffer injustice. Indeed this shortcoming of the hybrid calendar system is fatal not only to the justice system but also to the society (Peak, 2010). A Take on Individual Calendar System Individual calendar system foremost advantage is the assignment of specific judge to

A Case Study of the Court Calendar System handle the case from the start until the disposal. Thus, with this calendar system, the litigants

have enough knowledge of the personality of the arbitrator. This, moreover, builds confidence in the handling of the case because this assures that the judge has full grasp of the casea premise for a basis of a fair and just verdict or decision. In the individual calendar system, the judge is accountable to the course the case is taking and the outcome that would happen later on. Through this type of calendar system, it is easy to trace the delays and backlogs of the case. The aggravated parties can also choose from among the bench whom they feel is much favorable on their side; but this can also be prevented if the parties are observed to be too abusive. The use of individual calendar system shall made judges responsible on their actions in arbitrating civil cases (Peak, 2010). While this calendar system has advantages, it also has disadvantages. One weakness of individual calendar system is that it is imbalanced in the assignment of cases to judges. There really is no basis in the assigning of complex and simple cases in specific judges. Because of this randomness, a complicated case can be assigned to one judge while a simple case can be given to another one. Thus, if a certain judge got a complicated case then there is a huge possibility of causing delay and backlogs in that specific judges case loads. This is what you called case stacking wherein there is a piling of cases due to the complication of a specific case. Case stacking can be due to either scheduling many a number of cases or scheduling cases minimally. When there are minimal schedule of cases then there is no maximization of the time judge spends in adjudicating the case; wastage of precious time happens. This calendar system moreover, creates a monotone work for judges in hearing civil cases. It also hinders judges to experience criminal case trials, which are widely different from civil cases (Peak, 2010). Overview of the Master Calendar System

A Case Study of the Court Calendar System Master calendar system benefit judges by leveraging them in gaining experiences in every phase of the case trial. By doing this, judges that are expert on a particular phase of the trial can maximize his expertise and thereby expedite the course of the case trial. Moreover,

through rotation of judges in the trial of criminal cases, they break their monotone work cycle of civil cases proceedings (Peak, 2010). Those are the advantages; the drawback meanwhile is on the inability of this type of calendar system to determine who is answerable to a particular delay in the disposition of the case. The rotations as well bring about discrepancies in handling a specific case. The litigants also are confused in who is the judge in a specific phase, thereby allowing setbacks on the judges failure to grasp fully the case at hand. It also generate wastage of time because judges need to review the case every time it is assigned to them in every rotationtime that can be spent in faster disposal of cases. There is also a large possibility of appealed decisions on the ground of judges lack of discernment in deciding the case as well as rulings of mistrial and dismissal or lack of probable cause. Rotation of judges in every period, indeed, creates deficiency on judges in adjudicating the case and freeing guilty criminals because of this deficiency (Peak, 2010). Master calendar system also brings about ineffective time management because of the need for judges to review pending cases continuously. If judges will not review cases on the other hand, they could not competitively understand and rule on the trial. There is also a specific style of arbitration for every specific judge, and there is a fast-paced judge and a more meticulous and slower one, so uneven distribution of duties is also created which can also add up to case stacking in courts (Peak, 2010). Assessment in Criminal Division What is the effect of hybrid calendar system on criminal divisions case disposition?

A Case Study of the Court Calendar System Employment of hybrid calendar system creates problem of discrepancy in handling a specific criminal case due to the rotation of justices handling the trials of the case. Litigants are constrained as well to a full grasp of the personality of their adjudicator. Most importantly, employment of master calendar system blinds the criminal division the full knowledge on the

facts relating to the case and the motions, pleadings and rulings in the entire course of the trial knowledge which are essential and pivotal in trying, hearing and deciding over the merits of the case. Most litigants looked at it as inaccuracy in the criminal division because judges do not have a full knowledge of the case being tried this loophole. There is an increase in the rate of appeal, mistrials and dismissals because of this drawback (Peak, 2010). Assessment in Juvenile Division Hybrid calendar system when employed in juvenile division requires rotation of judges in adjudicating juvenile delinquencies. An advantage of not assigning a permanent judge in this division is the promotion of unbiased judicial proceeding against a recurring delinquent. Rotations of judges also reduce the risk of the judges to feel grudge and resentment over a certain recidivated juvenile. Thus, there will be a lesser chance of getting unjustified and overrated verdict. Permanent assignment is also ineffective especially if assigned on the post is an incapable one who will just execute biased and unwarrantable punishments (Peak, 2010). However, disadvantage of the implementation of hybrid calendar system in juvenile court is that there is a huge possibility of judicial error wherein the judge because of rotation do not fully understand the details of the case and do not really comprehend the situation dealing with the juvenile. The judge because of not being permanent cannot possibly create a personal knowledge of the environment, scenario the delinquent was in and the society to which the juvenile revolves. Without having this information, a judge cannot decide justifiably on the

A Case Study of the Court Calendar System merits of the juveniles case and the judge cannot as well remedy on the delinquent act the juvenile. It is necessary in the juvenile division to rehabilitate the delinquent at least so that he will not repeat the action and will live a life out of prison. Analysis of the Hybrid Calendar System The implementation of the hybrid calendar system in small sized court reflected a

decrease in case disposal to 200 cases. Due to the many drawbacks this type of calendar system pose, this case study recommends that, the hybrid calendar system eliminated in courts and the individual calendar system brought back. This will improve the case disposal, prevent mistrials, mend trials delays and case backlogs and develop publics confidence in the justice system (Peak, 2010). There should also be an analysis in the rate of trial efficiency and case disposition. By doing such, valuation of judges work and efficiency is possible and an explanation behind backlogs and hindrance of quick expedition of cases is determined. Summary The hybrid calendar system poses both advantages and disadvantages with respect to criminal case proceedings. Issues of uniformity, adeptness, responsibility, stack-ups and misperceptions must be into consideration. These issues root from the method of the hybrid calendar system in rotating duties of judges that compromises the credibility of the judges in adjudicating the case thereby increasing in the rate of mistrials, case dismissals and freeing of criminals. In view, this case study recommends abolishment of the hybrid calendar system, and then employs again the individual calendar system. Small size court shall take advantage from this type of calendar system compared to the master calendar one. Nevertheless, make sure that there is still assessments and valuations of the effect of the individual calendar system to monitor the efficiency of trials and case dispositions

A Case Study of the Court Calendar System References

Peak, K. (2010). Justice Administration: Police, Courts, and Corrections Management (6th ed.) Upper Saddle River, NJ. Pearson/Prentice Hall.