Judiciary Annual Report (CZ0023)

Improving the annual statistical report of the Czech judiciary
Start and end date of commitment: 1 September 2018 – 31 August 2020
Lead implementing agency : Ministry of Justice
Description of Commitment
Which public problem will be resolved by this commitment?
In the past, the statistical data on the operation of the Czech courts was just a row in the basic statistical information with no further breakdown. The first statistical annual report in which the published data were analysed and interpreted was issued in 2017. The decision was taken to publish such a report every year.
What is the commitment?
The annual report published in 2018 contains significantly more information than the previous report. However, the Ministry of Justice undertakes to accept suggestions for further improvements following publication, both from professionals and the lay public (the technical form of this consultation is still to be clarified). The commitment’s objective is to support access to justice and greater transparency in the Czech judiciary, so that the statistical report can also reflect the information required by the public on the course of justice.
How will the commitment contribute to solving a public problem?
Thanks to public feedback, the Czech judiciary’s statistical report will in future be more reflective of the real need for information on the part of the professional and lay public.
How does the commitment relate to OGP values?
This commitment will improve the quality of information published and the transparency of the Czech judiciary. It reflects the needs of professionals and the wider public.
Milestone activity with verifiable output
Collection of suggestions, including a choice of collection method, for the annual report for 2017
01 September 2018 - 31 January 2019
Continuous publication of suggestions and reactions to them
01 January 2019 - 30 April 2019
Collection of suggestions, including the choice of collection method, for the annual report for 2018
01 September 2019 - 31 January 2020
Continuous publication of suggestions and reactions to them
01 January 2020 - 30 April 2020
Name of the responsible person from the implementing agency
Bc. David Pánek
Role, Department
Head of the Judicial Analysis and Statistics Unit, Ministry of Justice
Email and telephone
DPanek@msp.justice.cz, +420 221 997 367
Other stakeholders involved
Not applicable

2. Improving the annual statistical report of the Czech judiciary

Language of the commitment as it appears in the action plan:

The commitment’s objective is to support access to justice and greater transparency in the Czech judiciary, so that the statistical report can also reflect the information required by the public on the course of justice.

Milestones:

• Collection of suggestions, including a choice of collection method, for the annual report for 2017;
• Continuous publication of suggestions and reactions to them;
• Collection of suggestions, including the choice of collection method, for the annual report for 2018;
• Continuous publication of suggestions and reactions to them.

For full text of the commitment please see: https://korupce.cz/partnerstvi-pro-otevrene-vladnuti-ogp/narodni-akcni-plany-nap/ctvrty-akcni-plan-2018-2020/faze-vytvoreni/

Start Date: 1 September 2018                         

End Date: 31 August 2020

Context and Objectives

The commitment aims to improve the quality of information published in the Czech Judiciary’s statistical report by taking into account law professionals and citizens’ feedback. In 2017, the Czech Judiciary started publishing the annual statistical report, including selected statistical data for district, regional and high courts, Supreme court and Supreme Administrative court. The report includes information on the number of judges, length of proceedings, and appeal rate for criminal and civil courts. [2]

The commitment is verifiable and is relevant to OGP values of access to information and civic participation, since it aims to improve the publication of judiciary information and intends to do so through consultation with professionals and the general public. However, the action plan does not specify how the consultation will be carried out. It also does not indicate whether improvements are sought in terms of inclusion of new information in the report or changes in the presentation of statistical data. 

Since the start of its publication in 2017, the report has already improved. The annual report for 2018 contained more information with new indicators (particularly for the judicial staff section) and a refined methodology. [3] However, navigation of statistics in the report is difficult for average citizens, as it does not provide user-friendly visualizations and a data analysis, or conclusions of the main achievements and/or challenges of the judicial system. Consultation with relevant stakeholders to identify information needs from the judiciary could lead to positive improvements in the publication of judicial data. However, without further detail on where major improvements are sought, as written, this commitment could have a minor potential impact on opening up information from the judiciary.

Next steps

During the implementation period, the Ministry of Justice could clarify feedback collection methods, and establish a timeline for the consultation process. To identify existing information needs from the judiciary, it is recommended to create online and in-person feedback channels.

[2] The Judiciary statistical report, https://justice.cz/documents/12681/719244/2017_vyrocni_stat_zprava.pdf/27ba4524-49cb-4744-b834-2c6812f13e5d

[3] Email exchange with Kucera Frantisek, 10 December 2019. 

2. Improving the annual statistical report of the Czech judiciary

Completion: Substantial

At the end of each calendar year, the Ministry of Justice collects suggestions from professionals and the general public for the judiciary’s annual statistics report via the korupce.cz portal. The ministry received and evaluated 10 responses, although not all were incorporated into the annual report. [2] In 2018 and 2019, the ministry began publishing more detailed statistics in Excel tables including graphics and visuals. [3] These contain various data, such as the number of new cases and pending proceedings, that can be tracked for district and regional courts (the supreme court already publishes its own statistics). [4] A ministry representative said that the reports are mainly used by the courts to report their activities. [5]