Talk:Questionnaire

From Measuring Access to Justice

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Dear Sir/Madam,

The present questionnaire concerns distinct aspects of access to justice. Its aim is to measure the time and money people spend in order to obtain a solution for their conflicts as well as to measure their perceptions of the fairness of the procedure and the outcome.

You recently experienced a problem that you could not solve yourself. In order to find a solution you brought the issue before a neutral person or neutral body. We are interested in your experiences from the moment you took action, for example by consulting a legal advisor, by contacting the other party or by searching for information, until the moment the procedure came to an end, for example because a neutral person or neutral body has made

a decision, an agreement was reached or no agreement was reached and as a result of that you either decided to take further steps or accepted the status quo. Maybe you or the other party have appealed to a second (higher) instance. However, we are only interested in your experiences from the moment you took action until the first procedure came to an end regardless of whether or not that outcome was satisfactory.

This questionnaire is anonymous and we will treat your responses with confidentiality. No information that can identify you will be passed on to anybody else.

We want to thank you in advance for your participation.

Demographics
Please indicate:

1a. Gender  Male  Female

1b. Age___ years

1c. Ethnicity

 country-specific
 country-specific
 country-specific
 Other:____________

1d. Marital status

 Single
 Married
 Divorced
 Widowed
 Other: _________

1e. How many people, including yourself, live in your household?

_______ people.

1f. What is your highest level of education?

 Primary education
 Secondary education (high-school)
 College
 University
 Other: __________

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1g. Are you employed at this moment?

 Yes
 No, I don’t work.
 No, I’m retired.

1h. What is the monthly income of your household after tax?

 top 20% (country-specific)
 top 40% (country specific)
 mean (country-specific)  bottom 40% (country-specific)
 bottom 20% (country-specific)

1i What is your postal code? __________

Information on the problem
In this section we will ask you several questions about the issue you brought before a neutral person/body. All questions refer to your experiences from the moment you took action until the moment the procedure came to an end. Please do not include an appeal to a second (higher) person or instance.

2a. The issue you brought before a neutral person/body concerned:

 Divorce  Employment  Consumer goods

2b. When did you first took action to solve the problem?

Taking action could take different forms – contacting a lawyer, talking to the other party, filing a lawsuit, calling the police etc. Please, indicate here the time of your first reaction to the problem.

__________ (dd.mm.yyyy)

2c. Who was the neutral person/body who decided on the issue?

 (country-specific procedure 1)
 (country-specific procedure 2)
 (country-specific procedure 3)
 other:_______________
 none, the issue was settled agreeably

'2d. In case the issue was settled agreeably' between you and the other party, do you know which neutral person/body could have decided if you had not settled? It is possible to provide more than one answer.

 (country-specific procedure 1)
 (country-specific procedure 2)
 (country-specific procedure 3)
 other:__________________
 I don’t know
 The issue was not settled agreeably

2e. Please indicate what your interests were/which interests you intended to protect by taking action in order to get your conflict resolved.

Material interest (those that can be expressed in money):

Immaterial interest (those that cannot be expressed in money):

2f. Please indicate the value of your claim for those interests that can be expressed in money.

___________ Euro

Costs of Justice

In this section, we will ask you several questions about the money and time you spent
on resolving the issue.

3a. In total, how much money did you spend in order to have the issue resolved?

Give an estimate of the total costs of solving the issue in the first instance. If you have made any non-monetary payments, please estimate the value of the goods. Think about:

- Fees for authorities (filing fees, court fees, notarys' fees, enforcement fees, document fees etc.)
- Legal assistance fees/lawyers’ fees/paralegals' fees
- Fees for experts, witnesses, translation, bailiffs, court reporters
- Travell expenses
- Expenses for collecting information
- Telephone and postal costs
- Unofficial fees
- Other

In Euro:
0 1 2 5 10 20 50 100 200 500 1000 2000 5000 10000 More

3b. Who paid the monetary costs for your procedure?

 I paid
 The other party in the dispute
 Both, me and the other party
 Insurance company
 Public organization
 Other
 Do not know/Do not want to answer

3c. Estimate the costs that were incurred because the issue was pending. Think about:

- Storage of goods you would otherwise have sold
- Goods/assets that became devalued because of the issue

- Loss of opportunities because of uncertainty (e.g. losing a job opportunity, losing a contract opportunity)

In Euro:
0 1 2 5 10 20 50 100 200 500 1000 2000 5000 10000 More

4a. How long did it take until the neutral person came to a decision?

Give an estimate of how much time passed from the moment you first took action until the procedure came to an end.

In months:
1 2 4 6 12 18 24 36 48 60 72 More

4b. In total, how much time did you spend in order to have the issue resolved?

Give an estimate of the overall time spent on resolving the issue in the first instance. Think about:

- Searching for a (legal) adviser
- Talking, phoning, writing to the other party
- Talking to family, friends, etc.
- Talking to the professional adviser (telling your story, getting information, deciding what to do)
- Talking, phoning, writing to authorities - Collecting documents, evidence, undergoing a (medical or other) examination,
- Attending hearings
- Waiting
- Travelling
- Other

In hours:
0 1 2 5 10 15 25 50 100 200 300 400 500 More

5a. How much money did you spent for the fee of the legal advisor?

In Euro:
0 1 2 5 10 20 50 100 200 500 1000 2000 5000 10000 More

5b. How much money did you spent for the fee of another expert (i.e. medical, forensic, damage evaluator)?

In Euro:
0 1 2 5 10 20 50 100 200 500 1000 2000 5000 10000 More

5c. How much money did you spent for travelling?

In Euro:
0 1 2 5 10 20 50 100 200 500 1000 2000 5000 10000 More

5d. How much money did you spent on administrative/court fees?

Think of money that you had to pay to the court, mediator or the public authority before the procedure started.

In Euro:
0 1 2 5 10 20 50 100 200 500 1000 2000 5000 10000 More

5e. How much money did you spent on calling, postal costs, printing, copying etc.?

In Euro:
0 1 2 5 10 20 50 100 200 500 1000 2000 5000 10000 More

5f. How much money did you spent for unofficial payments?

Think of bribery or kick backs for receiving services.

In Euro:
0 1 2 5 10 20 50 100 200 500 1000 2000 5000 10000 More

6a. How much time did you spent to interact with lawyer?

In hours:
0 1 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 38 More

6b. How much time did you spent to interact with another expert.

In Euro:
1 2 5 10 20 50 100 200 500 1000 2000 5000 10000

6c. How much time did you spent to interact with the neutral person?

Think about attending or waiting for hearings.

0 1 2 5 10 15 25 50 100 200 300 400 500 More

6d. How much time did you spent to travel in relations with the procedure?

0 1 2 5 10 15 25 50 100 200 300 400 500 More

6e. How much time did you spent to prepare yourself for and attend the procedure?

Think about finding and retrieving documents, preparing statements, reading laws etc.

0 1 2 5 10 15 25 50 100 200 300 400 500 More

6f. How much time did you spent in searching for information how to solve the problem?

0 1 2 5 10 15 25 50 100 200 300 400 500 More

Stress and emotions
Being involved in a legal conflict and having to initiate a legal procedure might be accompanied by certain feelings and emotions. In this part we would like you to provide us with information about your feelings and emotions during the process.

7a. Please indicate the amount of stress you experienced from the moment you took action until the moment the procedure came to an end not taking your feelings about the procedure into account.

very little stress O O O O O very much stress

7b. Please indicate the amount of stress you experienced after you received the outcome.

very little stress O O O O O very much stress

7c. Please indicate to what extent the procedure had a negative impact on important relationships.

 Very large impact
 Large impact
 Moderate impact
 Small impact
 Very small impact

7d. How much impact did the conflict have on your life?

 Very large impact
 Large impact
 Moderate impact
 Small impact
 Very small impact

7e. Please indicate how you were feeling during the procedure. It is possible to give more than one answer.

 Frustrated
 Confident
 Angry
 Disappointed
 Nervous
 Insecure
 Relieved
 Hopeless
 Exhausted
 Optimistic

7f. Please give an indication about the degree to which the procedure (and not the conflict itself) influenced your experience of stress.

Give an estimate of how much stress the procedure caused. The conflict itself is likely to have caused a great deal of stress, but we would like you to separate the stress caused by the procedure from the stress caused by the conflict. So, the stress caused by these two factors together is 100% and we would like to know how much of the 100% was caused by the procedure.

The procedure has influenced my experience of stress during the procedure to about ___%.

7g. The following questions refer to your feelings and thoughts during the last weeks (regardless of when the process has ended). In each case, please tick the appropriate box to indicate how often you felt or thought a certain way.

Never Almost never Sometimes Fairly often Very often
7g1 How often have you felt that you were unable to control the important things in your life? x x x x x
7g2 How often have you felt confident about your ability to handle your personal problems? x x x x x
7g3 How often have you felt that things were going your way? x x x x x
7g4 How often have you felt difficulties were piling up so high that you could not overcome them? x x x x x

Quality of procedure
In this section we will ask you some questions about the procedure as you experienced it.

8a. Please indicate your overall impression of the fairness of the procedure.

 Very unfair
 Unfair
 Not fair/not unfair
 Fair
 Very fair

8b. Please indicate how satisfied you are with the procedure.

 Very unsatisfied
 Unsatisfied
 Not unsatisfied/not satisfied
 Satisfied
 Very satisfied

8c. Please indicate how satisfied you are with the decision-maker.

 Very unsatisfied
 Unsatisfied
 Not unsatisfied/not satisfied
 Satisfied
 Very satisfied

8d. Please indicate how fairly you were treated by the decision-maker.

 Very unfair
 Unfair
 Not fair/not unfair
 Fair
 Very fair

8e. Please indicate to what extent you find the decision-maker trustworthy.

 To a very small extent
 To a small extent
 To a moderate extent
 To a large extent
 To a very large extent

8f. Please indicate whether you would rely on the neutral person/body to resolve a conflict in the future.

 No
 Probably not
 Don’t know
 Probably yes
 Yes

9. Please indicate the type of contact you had with the neutral person. It is possible to give more than one answer.

 I had no contact with the neutral person: continue with question 11a.
 Telephone
 Letter(s)
 Via my advisor (e.g. your lawyer)
 Via my insurance company
 Personal (e.g. because you attended a hearing)
 Other: _______________

to a very small extent to a small extent to a moderate extent to a large extent to a very large extent
10a Have you been able to express your views and feelings during the procedure? x x x x x
10b Have you had influence over the outcome arrived at by the procedure? x x x x x
10c Have the same rules been applied to you and the other party? x x x x x
10d Has the procedure been objective and neutral? x x x x x
10e Has the procedure been based on accurate information? x x x x x
10f Have you been able to correct wrongful information during the procedure? x x x x x
10g Has the procedure upheld ethical or moral standards of society? x x x x x

11. The following items refer to the neutral person who enacted the procedure, i.e. the person who handled your case and pronounced the decision in your case. Please indicate to what extent:

to a very small extent to a small extent to a moderate extent to a large extent to a very large extent
11a Has the neutral person treated you in a polite manner? x x x x x
11b Has the neutral person treated you with respect? x x x x x
11c Has the neutral person made any improper comments? x x x x x
11d Has the neutral person been honest in his/her communications with you? x x x x x
11e Has the neutral person explained the procedure thoroughly? x x x x x
11f Did you understand the explanations provided by the neutral person? x x x x x
11g Has the neutral person communicated details about the procedure in a timely manner? x x x x x
11h Has the neutral person seemed to tailor his/her communication to your specific needs? x x x x x

Quality of outcome
In this section we would like to ask you to provide us with information about the outcome of your case. The outcome of your case can for example be the decision of the neutral person or an agreement that you reached with the other party.

12a. Please think again about the value of the claim and indicate what you received at the end of the procedure.

12b. For those assets of the claim that can be expressed in money, please indicate how much money you received.

_______ Euros

12c. Please indicate how favourable the outcome was for you.

 Very unfavourable
 Unfavourable
 Not unfavourable/not favourable
 Favourable
 Very favourable

12d. Please indicate how satisfied you are with the outcome.

 Very unsatisfied
 Unsatisfied
 Not unsatisfied/not satisfied
 Satisfied
 Very satisfied

'12e. 'To what extent was the outcome proportionate to your contribution/effort to the problem/value/damages?

 To a very small extent
 To a small extent
 To a moderate extent
 To a larger extent
 To a very large extent

'12f. 'To what extent did the outcome give you a share that was equal to the share of the other party?

 To a very small extent
 To a small extent
 To a moderate extent
 To a larger extent
 To a very large extent

'12g. 'To what extent was the outcome proportionate to your needs?

 To a very small extent
 To a small extent
 To a moderate extent
 To a larger extent
 To a very large extent

'12h. 'To what extent was the outcome proportionate to your volitional contribution?

 To a very small extent
 To a small extent
 To a moderate extent
 To a large extent
 To a very large extent

12i. Please indicate when you received the outcome.

I received the outcome on _____ (dd.mm.yyyy).

'12j. 'To what extent did the outcome create a win-win situation?

 To a very small extent
 To a small extent
 To a moderate extent
 To a large extent
 To a very large extent

'12k. 'To what extent have your emotional harms been repaired?

 Very unfair
 Unfair
 Not fair/not unfair
 Fair
 Very fair

'12l. 'To what extent do you find the outcome fair?

 To a very small extent
 To a small extent
 To a moderate extent
 To a large extent
 To a very large extent

'12m. 'To what extent have your material harms been repaired?

 To a very small extent
 To a small extent
 To a moderate extent
 To a large extent
 To a very large extent

'12n. 'To what extent did the other party accept responsibility?

 To a very small extent
 To a small extent
 To a moderate extent
 To a large extent
 To a very large extent

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'12o. 'To what extent do you expect that the other party complies with the law in the future?

 To a very small extent
 To a small extent
 To a moderate extent
 To a large extent
 To a very large extent

'12p. 'To what extent does the other party accept the decision?

 To a very small extent
 To a small extent
 To a moderate extent
 To a large extent
 To a very large extent

'12q. 'To what extent do you expect that the other party observes the decision?

 To a very small extent
 To a small extent
 To a moderate extent
 To a large extent
 To a very large extent

'12r'. To what extent does the other party acknowledge his contribution to the problem?

 To a very small extent
 To a small extent
 To a moderate extent
 To a large extent
 To a very large extent

'12s. 'To what extent is the other party reintegrated into the community?

 To a very small extent
 To a small extent
 To a moderate extent
 To a large extent
 To a very large extent

12t. That what extent have losses and gains caused by the negligent act been undone?

 To a very small extent
 To a small extent
 To a moderate extent
 To a large extent
 To a very large extent

12u. To what extent was the outcome proportionate to the contribution to the problem/damages of the other party?

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 To a very small extent
 To a small extent
 To a moderate extent
 To a large extent
 To a very large extent
12v. To what extent was the conflict reframed in terms of relationships?

 To a very small extent
 To a small extent
 To a moderate extent
 To a large extent
 To a very large extent
'12w.'To what extent have you been brought in a process that encourages growth and development?

 To a very small extent
 To a small extent
 To a moderate extent
 To a large extent
 To a very large extent
12x. To what extent did the outcome reflect your interests?

 To a very small extent
 To a small extent
 To a moderate extent
 To a large extent
 To a very large extent
12y. To what extent were the concrete circumstances taken into account?

 To a very small extent
 To a small extent
 To a moderate extent
 To a large extent
 To a very large extent
12z. To what extent was the outcome practical?

 To a very small extent
 To a small extent
 To a moderate extent
 To a large extent
 To a very large extent
12aa. To what extent were the consequences of the outcome taken into account?

 To a very small extent
 To a small extent
 To a moderate extent
 To a large extent
 To a very large extent
'12ab.'To what extent were you satisfied with the outcome?

 To a very small extent
 To a small extent
 To a moderate extent
 To a large extent
 To a very large extent
12ac. To what extent were the pracitcally relevant arguments taken into account?

 To a very small extent
 To a small extent
 To a moderate extent
 To a large extent
 To a very large extent
'12ad. 'To what extent was it possible for you to compare your outcome with the outcome of other people?

 To a very small extent
 To a small extent
 To a moderate extent
 To a large extent
 To a very large extent
12ae. To what extent did the outcome reflect the relevant facts?

 To a very small extent
 To a small extent
 To a moderate extent
 To a large extent
 To a very large extent
'12af'. To what extent was the outcome similar to the outcome in similar cases?

 To a very small extent
 To a small extent
 To a moderate extent
 To a large extent
 To a very large extent
'12ag'. To what extent were the rules that apply to your problem public?

 To a very small extent
 To a small extent
 To a moderate extent
 To a large extent
 To a very large extent
12ah. To what extent were the rules that apply to your problem understandable?
 To a very small extent
 To a small extent
 To a moderate extent
 To a large extent
 To a very large extent

Thank you very much for your participation!