From Rule- To Data- And Code-Based Judicial Administration: The Digital Transformation of Court Governance in Europe

Traditional analyses of court governance by lawyers and political scientists often rely on a rule-based paradigm of regulation: a framework of actors empowered to establish and enforce formal or informal rules governing judicial behavior and the organization of courts. However, this perspective overlooks the growing array of tools used to regulate judicial activities that operate outside this framework. Court administration is undergoing a profound transformation, driven by digital technologies that introduce new, ostensibly more efficient and objective, modes of governance. These include automated case distribution systems, performance monitoring tools that track case durations, and data-driven mechanisms for evaluating and promoting judges within the judicial hierarchy. This shift toward digital tools in judicial governance has unfolded with little public or scholarly reflection on its broader implications. This paper seeks to map the technologies currently used or proposed in court administration across Europe and to analyze their theoretical implications for judicial legitimacy. It examines three paradigms of court governance—rule-driven, data-driven, and code-driven—highlighting their distinct philosophical foundations and varied impacts on the core values upheld by judicial institutions. The central argument is that while data- and code-driven systems enhance efficiency and improve informational capacities, they also reshape the values these systems enforce. They alter power dynamics within court governance, redefining who holds administrative authority, how it is exercised, and how it can be challenged. This paper makes two key contributions. First, it broadens the scope of discussions on judicial digitalization by shifting the focus from substantive decision-making and procedural tasks (e.g., court hearings and decision-support systems) to the underexplored realm of court governance. Second, it expands the understanding of tools used in judicial administration, demonstrating that in the digital age, governance mechanisms extend far beyond the classical conception of law and rules. This broader perspective is essential for understanding and analyzing the evolving legitimacy of judicial institutions.