The Asssesment of Court Quality:Hype or Global Trend ?

The private sector has traditionally had a strong concern for monitoring and improving the quality of its goods and services. This tradition became clearly visible in the 1950s when Japanese enterprises were criticized for the poor quality of their products. In response to these critics, measures were taken in the form of ‘total quality control’ (TQC).1 TQC integrates quality development, maintenance and improvement into one comprehensive system, whilst also taking customer satisfaction into account. During the period 1980-1990, the concept of TQC gradually gave way to ‘total quality management’ (TQM). Following quality management initiatives by Japan, the United States Congress in 1987 passed a special Act (the Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Improvement Act of 1987) to stimulate American companies to adopt practices for effective quality management. As a part of this Act, (small) businesses and public sector institutions receive a special award for significant improvements in the area of quality. In Europe a similar initiative was launched in 1992 when the EFQM (European Foundation on Quality Management) excellence model was introduced. Similar to the Malcolm Baldridge Quality Award, companies and public institutions are selected annually to receive the EFQM excellence award.