Time Management

Abstract

Judicial officers, especially in lower courts, face caseloads of increasing volume and complexity coupled with severe time constraints. It is the judicial officer who must structure time in order to get through a busy list, attempt to reduce delay in hearing and resolving cases, and perhaps enable disadvantaged court users to be heard. This chapter focuses on the practical strategies magistrates use to manage time in this demanding, dynamic lower court context, where they are constrained by the conventional norms of the passive, detached judicial role.