Trial Court Performance Standards and Measurement System: Program Brief

摘要

In 1987, in recognition that State court systems were being stretched beyond their capacities and that court personnel were experiencing fatigue and burnout in attempting to deal with the significant increase in drug-related cases, the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), U.S. Department of Justice, and the National Center for State Courts (NCSC), a nonprofit organization providing leadership and service to State courts, initiated an ambitious program, the Trial Court Performance Standards Project (Standards Project). The program's objective was to increase the capacity of the Nation's trial courts to provide fair and efficient adjudication and disposition of cases. The program's goals included the development of a set of standards and an accompanying measurement system that would define and measure effective trial court performance.