Excessive burden on the poor due to legal delays

The poor are less able than others to afford the results of judicial delay. Although speed in the judicial process should not be such as to deprive the parties, especially accused persons, of adequate time to prepare their cases, nor be such as to result in a perfunctory hearing, nevertheless much can and should be done to remedy the causes of delay, of which the following are those most commonly reported: (i) insufficiency of courts or of judges in relation to case loads; (ii) lack of industry, vigilance or competence on the part of the bench, the granting of excessive time for parties to take procedural steps and undue length of time taken to render decisions; (iii) insufficiency or inefficiency of auxiliary court personnel, such as stenographers, clerks, registrars and bailiffs, which delay the administrative machinery of justice; (iv) insufficiency or inefficiency of police needed for the making of investigations; (v) insufficiency of lawyers; (vi) delaying tactics of lawyers or parties, including excessive pleading and seeking of adjournments; (vii) delay in locating witnesses and securing their attendance at court.