Small claims court judges, form part of the recent UK Judicial Attitude Survey 2014. 90% of all salaried Judges in England & Wales responded to the survey, so the results cannot be ignored. You can read the full results here. The statistics show that Judges are generally an unhappy lot. So when you appear before a Judge, if you can make his life easier by having prepared properly in advance, you may have a happier and more receptive Judge dealing with your case. The key stats are:
Working Conditions
81% are satisfied that their job is challenging for them. 77% are satisfied by the variety of the work. 75% are satisfied by the quality of the training they receive. 86% feel working conditions have become worse in the last 5 years. 46% believe their caseload is too high. 50% say the IT equipment in place is poor. 65% say the morale of court staff is poor. 40% say administrative support is poor and a further 37% say it is only adequate. 63% think their career progression opportunities are non existent or poor 59% think their flexible working opportunities are non existent or poor
Pay, Pensions and Status
78% say their salary and pensions do not adequately reflect the work they do. 75% say they have suffered a net loss of earnings in the past 5 years. 97% believe they provide an important service to society 62% believe members of the judiciary are less respected by society than they were 10 years ago. Only 2% feel valued by the government. Only 4% feel they are valued by the media.
The Future
They believe the main challenges to the judiciary in the future are: 92% reduction in support staff 86% judicial morale 81% financial constraints 78% attracting the best people to the judiciary 77% litigants in person 65% loss of judicial independence 56% loss of experienced judges The survey itself reveals some interesting statistics about the Judges, including: The average age of a District Judge (most likely dealing with a small claim) is 56. Most Judges have been in their post for between 1-5 years.
