Judicial data refers to information about cases, legislations and records, judges, courts, and court services.
Nearly all of this data comes from the courts themselves. However, other sources include law schools and judicial watchdog organizations.
The main source of this data are the texts of court decisions which, unfortunately, can be difficult to quantify into tables or graphs.
Other data include the court type and jurisdiction, the presiding judge, and the date of case publication. Data about judges themselves include not only appointment, elevation, and retirement but also caseload and compensation. Additional data include court services, including jury service, fees collection, interpreters hired or used, and so on.
Finally, both courts and watchdogs report on expenditures, warrants issued, and compliance with legislations—for example, the Dodd-Frank Act.
Records of judicial decisions, appointments, services, and revenues are crucial to the proper function of courts. It also forms the basis of citizen’s trust in the courts.
The data can also make it easier to support other processes, such as streamlining the construction of property by making property registration and land-use dispute data easier to access.
Judicial and court data from law schools and courts may be considered accurate, complete, relevant, and consistent in themselves. However, creating a unique dataset takes careful reading and cleansing of the information from the compiler.
US Courts: Statistics & Reports
Council of Europe: Dynamic database of European judicial systems
In a step towards bettering India’s ranking on World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business index, the government has decided to link property registration with the National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG). This will not only bring more transparency in land-related disputes but also help in fast-tracking commercial cases.