The Brazilian National Council of Justice (CNJ) says the courts concluded 30% of cases in 2012.
"The growth in demand has not allowed efforts to judge and resolve cases to be sufficient," concludes a survey by the National Council of Justice released this Tuesday, the 15th; among the research's conclusions, the main problem in the Justice system is the difficulty in resolving old cases.
André Richter
Reporter from Agência Brasil
Brasilia - The National Council of Justice (CNJ) today (15) released the Justice in Numbers 2013 survey. The survey annually provides a detailed overview of the country's Judiciary. According to the data, referring to 2012, only 30 out of every 100 cases were closed. Among the conclusions of the survey, the main problem of the Justice system is the difficulty in resolving old cases.
According to the study, in 2012, 92 million cases were processed in the courts, and the backlog rate remained at 70%, a stable number compared to the previous four years. According to the CNJ (National Council of Justice), the rate is high due to pending cases in the first instance of the Judiciary. The backlog rises to 80% in cases in the execution phase.
"The growth in demand has not allowed efforts to judge and resolve cases to be sufficient. More specifically, when analyzing the growth in the number of new cases along with indicators of judges and staff, it is observed that most courts, with the exception of the Federal Courts, are unable to handle the existing backlog of cases," the survey concluded.
Tax enforcement proceedings represent 32% of all cases processed by the Judiciary, in addition to 40% of the pending caseload. These are the actions that most demand the Judiciary's resources. "The main difficulty in tax enforcement lies in clearing the backlog, which grows year after year. Of every 100 cases in progress, only 11 are closed during the year," the research points out.
According to the 2013 Justice in Numbers report, the backlog of cases is concentrated in the State Courts. "In this branch, there is a relative disproportion between financial and human resources compared to the number of lawsuits, since [the State Courts] account for 55% of the expenses of the National Judiciary, 70% of the judges, and 66% of the staff, yet they handle 78% of the cases in progress."
The research also identified the Judiciary's expenses in 2012. Total expenses were approximately R$ 57,2 billion. This amount is equivalent to 1,3% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The majority of the expenses were for employee salaries (R$ 50,7 billion), representing 88,7% of the total expenditure.
According to the ranking of courts made by the CNJ (National Council of Justice), among the five courts considered large, the Court of Justice of Rio de Janeiro (TJRJ) and the Court of Justice of Rio Grande do Sul (TJRS) have an efficiency index of 100%. Next are the courts of Paraná (89%), São Paulo (87%), and Minas Gerais (72%). According to the CNJ's criteria, efficiency is analyzed based on the number of cases the court managed to resolve in a year, the case flow, and financial resources.
Edited by: Talita Cavalcante