Indicator 16.30 General government total expenditure on law courts

The indicator measures the general government total expenditure on law courts according to the classification of the functions of government (COFOG). This includes expenditure on administration, operation or support of civil and criminal law courts and the judicial system, including enforcement of fines and legal settlements imposed by the courts and operation of parole and probation systems; legal representation and advice on behalf of government or on behalf of others provided by government in cash or in services. Law courts include administrative tribunals, ombudsmen and the like, and exclude prison administrations. In computing the per capita indicator, the average National Accounts (NA) population data of the reference year is used as denominator (calculated as the arithmetic mean of the population on 1st January of two consecutive years).

Indicator is used to monitor progress towards SDG 16 on peace, justice and strong institutions, which is embedded in the European Commission’s Priorities under ‘A new era for European Defence and Security’ and ‘Protecting our democracy, upholding our values’.

Well-functioning justice systems are an important structural condition on which EU Member States base their sustainable growth and social stability policies. Whatever the model of the national justice system or the legal tradition in which it is anchored, quality, independence and efficiency are among the essential parameters of an ‘effective justice system’. Improving the effectiveness of justice systems in Member States has been identified as a key component for structural reforms in the European Semester, the annual cycle for the coordination of economic policies at EU level. The Rule of Law Report assesses the situation of Member States’ justice systems and the EU Justice Scoreboard complements it by monitoring the efficiency, quality and independence of Member States’ justice systems. As a key part of the EU Justice Scoreboard, this indicator helps to assess the quality of the justice system.