In Support of Measuring Appellate Court Performance
Resolution 2: In Support of Measuring Appellate Court Performance
WHEREAS, the Conference of Chief Justices and the Conference of State Court Administrators continue to promote judicial governance and accountable state judicial branch institutions that provide the highest quality of service to the public; and
WHEREAS, judicial accountability can foster an environment where other branches of government and the public better understand the judiciary's role as an independent branch of government; and
WHEREAS, the Conference of Chief Justices and the Conference of State Court Administrators have adopted Resolution 23 In Support of Principles of Effective Judicial Governance and Accountability, which identifies the core elements of judicial accountability for state court systems; and
WHEREAS, appellate courts need performance standards and measures that provide a balanced view of court performance in terms of prompt and efficient case administration, public access and service, and effective and efficient management; and
WHEREAS, there is a need to develop benchmarks for appellate court performance measures so appellate courts can assess their own progress and allow courts to compare their performance with similarly situated appellate courts; and
WHEREAS, appellate court performance measures are increasingly valued as tools for incremental quality improvements of programs and services; and
WHEREAS, the National Center for State Courts has developed an initial set of core appellate court performance measures called Appellate CourTools;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Conference of Chief Justices and the Conference of State Court Administrators urge:
- State appellate courts to develop and test a balanced set of appellate court performance measures consistent with Appellate CourTools; and
- State appellate courts to collaborate with the National Center for State Courts as these measures are developed to learn from other judiciaries' experiences and, to the extent possible, encourage the use of consistent methodologies which are necessary for comparability; and
- The National Center for State Courts to establish a clearinghouse for appellate court performance measurement and management solutions – including the application of information technology-- and to serve as a resource center for appellate courts to test and gain experience from the use of various performance measurement systems; and
- The National Center for State Courts to pursue funding to establish a national database to warehouse performance data contributed by judiciaries. Courts could access this database to develop benchmarks to assess their own progress and allow them to compare their performance with similarly situated courts.
Adopted as proposed by the CCJ/COSCA Court Management Committee at the 2011 Annual Meeting on August 3, 2011.