Create a 2 pages page paper that discusses what specific problems could be created by the permanent assignment of a judge to the juvenile division.

Create a 2 pages page paper that discusses what specific problems could be created by the permanent assignment of a judge to the juvenile division. An Unmanageable Case Management Quandary

Question

What specific problems could be created by the permanent assignment of a judge to the juvenile division? What advantages might there be?

Answer

According to the given scenario, the court under consideration is facing with an increased workload. The increment in workload has taken place primarily through the last seven years. Presently, several criminal cases are being heard by separate benches of specialist judges. However, this is not the situation with all of the criminal cases and many of them are being heard by the judges who are experienced in both criminal and civil codes of law. Now the court administration is contemplating on whether or not it will be a wise decision to permanently assign a judge to the juvenile division. For a while, this idea might appear to be a sensible solution to the problem of increasing workload. By assigning a judge permanently to the juvenile division, the current hybrid approach of the court can be controlled considerably. Hence, the risk of increased ambiguity on the part of the court staffs will be lessened. Moreover, the efficiency of the different categories of justice system can be increased if specialist judges are given permanent assignments to their respective area of specialization.

However, every legal expect would not agree with the idea of permanent assignment. Permanent assignment may be theoretically a rewarding idea. Nevertheless, a judge who has to handle a permanent assignment is repeatedly exposed to the same type of cases. According to Baum (2009), short term and long term specializations are the two most prominent categories of specialization in law. Hence, specialist judges are better trained in handling special courts and cases. Nevertheless, when some judges are given “permanent assignments to particular types of cases, including, by definition, judges who serve on specialized courts” (Baum, 2009, p. 1673), they face high psychological stress. This psychological stress is resulted from repeated hearing of the same sort of cases. And if the court administrator starts to give a selected judge (particularly one who has been serving in a hybrid court system) similar cases constantly, he/she may be overwhelmed. Of course, the judge has to see the same sort of crimes, face same sort of questions, and deal with the same branch of law (here, it is the juvenile code) all the time. In fact, when a judge is aware that he/she will have to hear the same kind of cases for a long period of time, this very reality may affect the way he/she thinks (Baum, 2009).

But there are certain advantages too in implementing the permanent assignment system. Jacob (1997) is of the opinion that temporary assignments may demand for some extra ability, knowledge, and skill. Under professional obligation, a judge who is being given temporary assignments in different kinds of courts and branches of law may not deny his/her responsibilities outright. But he/she might be depressed for rapidly changing his/her role as a specialist. Furthermore, they may prove to be less efficient in handling highly complex disputes. On the other hand, a judge who is a permanent assignee to a specialist court such as the juvenile court will have more knowledge and confidence in handling even the exceptional situations. In the realm of juvenile law, exceptional cases are often encountered and judges who are permanent assignees may be able to act with more understanding in such circumstances.

References

Baum, L. (2009). Probing the effects of judicial specialization. Duke Law Journal, 58, 1667-1684.

Jacob, H. (1997). The governance of trial judges. Law & Soc’y Rev., 3, 10-15.