THE ROLE OF JUDICIAL TRAINING AND PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL IN THE ORGANIZATIONAL REFORM OF JUDICIARIES: INSIGHTS FROM THE EXPERIENCE OF CHILE AND ENGLAND AND WALES

Abstract

This thesis addresses the following question: What is the role of judicial training (JT) and performance appraisal (PA) in the organizational reform of judiciaries? The research studies the effects of various JT and PA mechanisms upon models of judicial organization. In light of the great diversity of judicial systems and variable configurations of JT and PA, the research strategy is twofold: First, the study focuses on the judiciaries of Chile and England and Wales being representatives of contrasting judicial organizational traditions. Second, I use typologies of judicial organization to focus on the main organizational aspects of judiciaries only, reducing the complexity of multidimensional analysis. After critically reviewing existing typologies of judicial organization, the thesis argues that these analytical constructs cannot fully explain contemporary changes in judiciaries, owing to their one-sided focus upon authority as a central organizational dimension. Rather, the thesis highlights the importance of the values and beliefs implicit in JT and PA arrangements in the normative evolution of the two judiciaries. The research employs a grounded theory methodology to uncover the organizational variables that underpin JT and PA arrangements in the two contexts, using them to develop a new typology, and to explain the role of these mechanisms in the organization of judiciaries. The empirical data shows that JT and PA bear normative content that can influence the reform of judiciaries. The functioning of these mechanisms also expresses different conceptions of authority, organizational cultures, and levels and types of formalization. The thesis proposes an organizational typology to analyse the role of JT and PA in changes to judicial organization. The results help to: 1) explain reforms in judicial organizational models; 2) understand how JT and PA contribute to such processes of change, and 3) highlight the relevance of the type of formalization for the normative analysis of the resulting organizational models.