Benchmarking procedural times: a quality control approach to court delays

Abstract

Establishes a method aimed at defining procedural delays. The time delay in the procedural life of a case under any legal system has been considered as one of the main sources of direct costs and uncertainty for businesses once litigation starts. Yet, no methodology exists until now which is able to develop benchmarks that would define expected procedural time under controlled court conditions. Finds the main court and user‐related factors associated to the times disposition in bankruptcy cases within the first instance level and determines an “ideal” time to disposition within a quality control framework. Considers an applied case using data belonging to the commercial first instance courts in Argentina. The results of the analysis conclude that the economic resources devoted to court personnel, not to capital spending, and an active case management style applied by a judge reduce the median procedural times.

Citation

Buscaglia, E. and Guerrero‐Cusumano, J. (1997), "Benchmarking procedural times: a quality control approach to court delays", Benchmarking for Quality Management & Technology, Vol. 4 No. 2, pp. 84-95. https://doi.org/10.1108/14635779710174927