The judicial system of many countries features specialized courts as part of their judicial process even though their functions and jurisdiction vary from country to country. These courts are regarded as outgrowths or extensions of government administrative agencies tasked with the responsibility of handling disputes and disagreements between government officials in those agencies and private corporations and individuals whose interests are affected by those government officials. The transfer of adjudication of complicated or complex disputes from the purview of general jurisdiction courts to the specialized courts with limited jurisdiction have both positive and negative impact in the way courts run their functions.
In instances where the jurisdiction of specialized law is transferred to specialized courts, the general courts are spared the effort of remaining current the issues which are associated with that area of the law. This reduces their workload and results into increased efficiency in judicial proceedings. However, the players involved in the specialized courts develop the experience and expertise to adjudicate in such matters than their counterparts. The end result is that the efficiency of the court system is greatly enhanced.
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On the contrary, the implementation of specialized courts may lead to a decline of the rich and broad jurisdiction enjoyed by general courts to an extent at which the new ideas and other benefits that such courts provide are greatly diminished. This process narrows the jurisdiction of generalist courts and impoverishes its appeal. This has the effect of discouraging potential candidates seeking appointments in such courts to reduce. Furthermore, the judicial system risks being put at the mercy of powerful specialized jurisdiction courts with their own agendas, advocacy and priorities (Zimmer, 2009).
Court consolidation and restructuring occurs when all court officials combine together to make up a unitary circuit court. This brings in the effect whereby the pay rates of some Municipal Court judges are put at par with those of Superior Court judges. This court union brings in challenges with regards to bill enactments which act as a big relief to family- related suits. This is especially true with victim rights laws because it has little, if any, effects on the rights of victims irrespective of its existence. It does not infringe on the rights of victims. The criminal justice system assumes that crime victims ought to act like sheep who are supposed to be seen and not heard. However, the Crime Victims’ Act has been in the forefront of changing this assumption in order to make victims to have more say in the criminal justice process (Majoras and Enson, 2010).
The courts have made several changes with respect to court consolidation and restructuring. In the last two decades, reforms have been made in the judiciary to unify the court system which will help it operate on a single budget that comes from the state’s treasury. It has the effect of simplifying the judicial process and placing all decision-making activities at the hands of the highest court. This is a hierarchical system where the Supreme Court stands at the apex and directs the entire system below. It is like a chain of command which is mandatorily consultative in nature where individual autonomy of the justice system is not significant. It has made simple all the court processes which were initially complex and unmanageable. This is because there is a support system that enables all individual jurisdictions to derive authority and financial resources from a centralized system of organization (Ewing and Gregg, 1978).
References
Ewing, B. and Gregg, J. (1978). Court Unification: “History, Politics and Implementation.” National institute of law Enforcement and Criminal Justice. Retrieved from: https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/Digitization/47168NCJRS.pdf
Majoras, J. and Enson, E. (2010). The Crime Victims’ Rights Act: It’s Impact on Plea Negotiations with the Antitrust Division. The Antitrust Source. Retrieved from: https://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/publishing/antitrust_source/Dec10_Majoras12_21f.authcheckdam.pdf
Zimmer, M. (2009). Overview of Specialized Courts. International Journal for Court Administration. Retrieved from: http://www.iaca.ws/files/LWB-SpecializedCourts.pdf
