Empirical research with judicial officers: The biography of a research project

Abstract

This article examines the history of a large multi-year, national empirical research project into the Australian judiciary undertaken by the two co-authors. We consider the different phases of the project, discuss what worked and what did not, and offer some suggestions for future research involving judicial officers and their courts. The research project entailed negotiating collaboration with and access to judicial officers and court staff on a national, state and local basis. Reflecting on this experience confirms the importance of collaboration with the courts and judiciary and researcher independence from them. Collaboration provides extensive access, supporting a long term, multi-method research design, and providing findings that are original, robust and valuable to the judiciary. It is equally important to maintain researcher independence: to ensure that courts and government commit to researcher control of data, its analysis and application, recognising that the courts cannot censor findings, presentations or publications. Collaboration and independence require generating and maintaining long term relationships, so that research leads to robust original scholarship that benefits judicial officers, courts, and the publics they serve. Este artículo examina la historia de un amplio proyecto nacional de investigación empírica plurianual sobre el poder judicial de Australia emprendido por las dos coautoras. Se examinan las diferentes fases del proyecto, se discute lo que funcionó y lo que no, y se ofrecen algunas sugerencias para futuras investigaciones en las que participen funcionarios judiciales y sus tribunales. El proyecto de investigación implicó negociar la colaboración y el acceso a los funcionarios judiciales y al personal de los tribunales a escala nacional, estatal y local. Reflexionar sobre esta experiencia confirma la importancia de la colaboración con los tribunales y el poder judicial y la independencia del investigador respecto a ellos. La colaboración proporciona un amplio acceso, apoyando un diseño de investigación a largo plazo y multimétodo, y arroja resultados que son originales, sólidos y valiosos para el poder judicial. Es igualmente importante mantener la independencia del investigador: garantizar que los tribunales y el gobierno se comprometan a que el investigador controle los datos, su análisis y aplicación, reconociendo que los tribunales no pueden censurar las conclusiones, presentaciones o publicaciones. La colaboración y la independencia requieren la creación y el mantenimiento de relaciones a largo plazo, de modo que la investigación dé lugar a sólidos conocimientos originales que beneficien a los funcionarios judiciales, a los tribunales y al público al que sirven.

Introduction. Empirical research with judicial professionals and courts: Methods and practices

“…Problems of access, time constraints and perceived utility of socio-legal and social science research, in general, have proved to be significant challenges for designing research involving courts and directly seeking information from judicial officers. Dias et al (2023) and Roach Anleu and Mack (2023) show the relevance of partnerships with courts and judicial organisations to facilitate access to this 'difficult population', through the example of the Permanent Observatory for Justice (Observatório Permanente da Justiça [OPJ], Portugal) and a large multi-year, national empirical research project (Australia). Dias et al (2023) highlight that since the foundation of the OPJ, the involvement of legal and judicial professionals and the collaboration of judicial and political institutions have proved to be key features in building a trusting environment, with fruitful results based on access to relevant sources of information.…”