But important as those factors are, the real picture has a much deeper perspective. Some modern trends may be confusing the public about what we really do in the courts. Courts are not just another dispute resolution mechanism. They operate quite differently, for example, from mediation and conciliation. For a start, the courts operate in public.
Courts hear both sides together.
Judicial officers give reasons for their decisions. If bare efficiency were the only consideration, disputes could be resolved much more satisfactorily than in the courts. Take the criminal arena. If the only consideration were to punish the guilty and acquit the innocent, as quickly and cheaply as possible, no doubt a bureaucrat could do it, as in some other parts of the world. And providing the resources necessary for that, one may observe, is not limited to financing the courts directly - it includes proper funding outside the courts, such as securing an adequate level of legal aid, presently lacking.