Factors Related to Court Disposition Delays: Understanding Patterns of Judicial Appointments in the Philippines

• In Event: Cross-National Studies on Criminal Justice

Abstract

The Philippines has one of the longest period of case disposition in the world. On average, cases are disposed between 3 to 4 years and in some cases can drag up to 20 years or more. Case disposition delay leads to prolonged pretrial detention, jail overcrowding and host of other negative outcomes, such high recidivism rates and expensive cost of maintaining jails and prisons. This paper aims to understand the structural, organizational and cultural causes of case disposition delays. Using publicly available data of judges and their expected year of retirements, the paper explores how hiring, selection and appointment processes translate to vacancies in judges positions that eventually affects length of case dispositions. Using interviews of judges and court staff, this paper will also investigate orgranizational and cultural practices that translate to delay. Policy implications on how to improve case disposition that are applicable to the Philippines and other low-resourced countries are discussed.

Authors

• Raymund Narag, Southern Illinois University

• Rasheed Babatunde Ibrahim, Southern Illinois University Carbondale