Cambiamenti strutturali e innovazione nell'amministrazione giudiziaria. Analisi di un caso

This essay analyses some of the solutions adopted in the United States to improve the functioning of the administration of justice. The first part is devoted to a description of the fundamental steps that have led to the consolidation of the discipline of judicial administration and to the creation of specific competences and professional skills for running judicial offices. A second part deals with certain techniques used to make the justice service more effective and efficient, also identifying a potential "virtuous circle of innovation". If suitably amended, some of these innovations could also be very usefull in Italy, where the debate is currently caught in the rut of reforms that appear to make no significant impact on the urgent need to shorten the time taken by judicial proceedings and, more in general, to achieve significant improvements in the poor quality of the justice service.