Case Management
Practical Guidelines for Judges

Summary

The CEELI Institute initiated the African Judicial Network in 2021, modelled on a similar initiative the Institute has been facilitating in Central and Eastern Europe since 2012. At the time of writing, the African Judicial Network includes judges from 11 Anglophone African countries: Botswana, The Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia.

 

The network is primarily composed of non-high court judges and focuses on expertise that can be used by individual judges in individual courtroom. It is meant to be an active network created by judges, for judges, with its substantive direction driven chiefly by the judges in the network’s Core Group.

 

Case management is one of the most crucial factors affecting efficient and timely delivery of justice. Proper case management requires significant investment in funds, personnel, and equipment, as well as the development of political will, all of which are too complex to be tackled by a single project or initiative. However, there is a range of measures that individual judges in individual courtrooms can take to significantly improve the management of their cases and reduce case backlogs. It is with those measures in mind that these guidelines have been drafted, using expertise from a number of network countries as brought forward by members of the Core Group, as well as from international partners.

 

This document thus aims to be relevant to individual judges, as well as to those responsible for developing policies and guidance for judicial practice, including members of judicial councils, court presidents, officials from judicial associations, and any other members of the judiciary who are responsible for regulating judges’ work practices. It considers basic principles of effective judicial case management before examining preparation and court management, including timing and prioritization, managing decisions, and cooperation with others. It includes, in the annexes, examples from various courts of tools and best practices on case management. While drafting this document, the CEELI Institute and the network judges referenced a wide range of materials and sources of information, including policies and recommendations by several international organizations.

 

These guidelines are made available, free of charge, to any interested judges and judiciaries in the region and beyond, in the hope they will find them a useful and practical tool.

Highlights

Welcoming the 5 AM coalition from Ukraine

“It was five o’clock in the…

Read more

Empowering the Judicial Exchange Network – Measuring 10 Years of Impact and Effectiveness

In October 2012, the CEELI Institut…

Read more

The CEELI Institute Partners with the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs

In September 2022, the CEELI Instit…

Read more

Preparing Young Ukrainian Lawyers to Deliver Justice

Before Russia’s full-scale invasi…

Read more

Launch of the INNOCENT Project

We are delighted to kick off our IN…

Read more

Tips for Judges for Case Management

  The document is relevant to any individual judge who is active on social media as well…

Read more

Manual on Independence, Impartiality, and Integrity of Justice

    acrylic wifi professional crack airserver crack adobe indesign crack bendy and …

Read more

Our Statement Regarding the Russian Federation's Decision to List the CEELI Institute as an "Undesirable Organisation"

15 July 2022 The CEELI Institute is…

Read more

Practical Guidelines for Remote Judging

The CEELI Institute supports judiciaries as they manage their pandemic response and their adj…

Read more

The Villa Grébovka Celebrates 150 Years: 1871–2021

Up Close and Personal with the Vill…

Read more

CEELI joins with IFES in Producing New Anti-Corruption Tools

The CEELI Institute was delighted …

Read more

CEELI Institute's New Report

Current European Union policies on …

Read more

Safeguarding the Rule of Law in Challenging Times a Podcast Series from CEELI talks

Safeguarding the Rule of Law in Challenging Times a Podcast Series from CEELI talks …

Read more

Practical Guidelines on Use of Social Media by Judges

The document is relevant to any individual judge who is active on social media as well as to anyone r…

Read more