Assessing the Argument for Specialized Courts: Evidence from Family Courts in Spain

Abstract

Specialized courts have become a key component of the legal reform packages implemented in civil law countries, particularly, in the area of family law. One argument for this policy is that they are able to reach a decision faster than the regular courts, which are normally congested. We use data from a survey of Spanish family courts in the region of Madrid to test this claim. After controlling for other relevant variables, the econometric results did not provide strong support for specialized courts.

The Economics of Civil Justice

“…Using the CEPEJ dataset, the authors find a negative correlation between court specialisation, as measured by the ratio of specialised first instance courts to all first instance courts of a country, and the number of resolved cases divided by caseload. Using data from a sample of Spanish family courts in the region of Madrid, Garoupa et al (2010) do not find conclusive evidence that specialised family courts are faster than regular ones. However, Marchesi (2003) shows that increasing the average size of Italian courts would enhance their productivity, mainly as a result of increased judges' specialisation.…”

“…For instance, higher uncertainty on judicial outcomes seems to affect, and potentially increase, demand (Dari Mattiacci and Deffains, 2007). On the supply side, various papers analyse the impact of judicial resources (Buscaglia and Dakolias, 1999, Rosales-López, 2008, Cross and Donelson, 2010, salaries (Buscaglia andDakolias, 1999, Deyneli, 2012), specialisation of courts (Garoupa et al 2010;Voigt and El Bialy, 2012), size of courts (Marchesi, 2003;Voigt and El Bialy, 2012), presence of judicial councils and judges' incentives (Voigt and El Bialy, 2012) on various measures (subjective and objective) of court performance. In general, these studies agree on the absence of a clear-cut relationship between budget and performance.…”

Judicial Performance and its Determinants

“…Using the CEPEJ dataset, the authors find that court specialisation, as measured by the ratio of specialised first instance courts to all first instance courts of a country, is inversely related to the number of resolved cases divided by caseload. Using data from a sample of Spanish family courts in the region of Madrid, Garoupa et al (2010) do not find conclusive evidence that specialised family courts are faster than regular ones. Conversely, Marchesi (2003) shows that increasing the average size of Italian courts would enhance their productivity, mainly as a result of increased judges' specialisation.…”

A Comparative-Empirical analysis of administrative courts in Mexico

“…Several scholars sustain that specialized courts produce higher quality decisions in time and content, help to achieve legal coherence and uniformity of judicial decisions, and help to reduce regular courts' workload. 66 On the other hand, specialization has been seen as making judges more susceptible to external control or "capture." 67 This paper will not analyze the consequences of specialization, but other scholarship suggests that specialization effects judicial independence.…”