Delay
Definition of Delay
Note: See a more comprehensive approach to the Delay legal concept in the American Law Encyclopedia
Lengthening of the time for cases to proceed to trial. Delay is an acute problem in American trial courts. Litigants in virtually every federal and state court experience delay before trial, especially with civil cases. Delays in excess of three years for many categories of civil dispute are not uncommon. The delay experienced in criminal cases is comparatively slight because the Sixth Amendment mandates speedy trials for criminal defendants. Federal and state speedy trial statutes typically specify processing time of 120 days or less from formal charging to trial. One of the causes of delay in civil dockets, however, is that criminal cases consume a disproportionate amount of trial time in order to comply with these speedy trial requirements. This, of course, necessarily delays the progress of civil cases. A second cause of civil case delay is the rapid escalation in the volume of new cases filed. Many civil courts have experienced increases of several hundred percent since 1950. This rate of growth far exceeds increases in population and the number of new courts added to a judicial system. Furthermore, these civil filings are unscreened. Unlike a criminal case, which can only enter the courts after review and consent by the prosecuting attorney, any civil plaintiff may directly file a complaint. Without screening, cases of varying quality compete for scarce court time. Another factor contributing to civil case delay is that some jurisdictions are not managed well enough to improve the number of case dispositions. Similarly, the U.S. legal system has been slow to move to other methods of revolving disputes.
See Also
Access to Courts (Law of the United States) Alternative Dispute Resolution (Law of the United States); SPEEDY TRIAL, 187.
Resources
Delay Related Resources
- Delay in the United States Legal Encyclopedia
- Civil Judicial Process Keywords in the United States Legal Encyclopedia
- Civil Process Keywords in the International Legal Dictionary
Notes
- “Delay”, The American Law Dictionary, 1991, California
Delay
In the Past
The time allowed either by law or by agreement of the parties to do something.
Developments
The law allows a delay, for a party who has been summoned to appear, to make defence, to appeal; it admits of a delay during which and action may be brought, certain rights exercised and the like.
Details
By the agreement of the parties there may be a delay in the payment of a debt, the fulfilment of a contract (see more about this popular legal topic in the U.S. encyclopedia), etc. Vide Code, 3, 11, 4; Nov. 69, c. 2 Merl. Rep. h [1]
Resources
Notes and References
- Partialy, this information about delay is based on the Bouvier's Law Dictionary, 1848 edition. There is a list of terms of the Bouvier's Law Dictionary, including delay.
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