Capacity planning & scheduling in the Judicial System
PhD candidate: Ieke Schrader
The Dutch Court of Law faces structural misalignment between judicial supply and demand, resulting in excessive lead times and unbalanced workloads. While Operations Research (OR) is mature in healthcare and production, its judicial application remains scarce. Recognising that the literature on judicial planning and control is in its infancy, this study identifies the Hearing Scheduling Problem (HSP) as a fundamental step toward professionalising operations. By modelling the HSP, this research lays the foundation for transitioning from fragmented planning decisions to a structured, integrated planning cycle.
This research employs a multi-disciplinary approach to build the foundations for optimisation. First, we propose a framework to bridge strategic objectives and operational reality. It serves as a guideline for managing uncertainty and dependencies across planning horizons.
Second, to resolve ambiguity in judicial PIs, we conducted a literature review to propose clear definitions. By benchmarking against healthcare and production systems, we established a robust set of indicators across four dimensions: Customer, Staff, Internal Business, and Financial.
Finally, we develop a Mixed-Integer Linear Programming (MILP) model for the tactical HSP. It optimises the scheduling of hearing blocks (i.e., capacity reservations for case types) and their resource allocation. This MILP is extended into a Multi-Objective epsilon-constraint Goal Programming model to balance competing interests, such as reducing waiting times and levelling workloads. Validated through a Criminal Law case study and a greedy heuristic, the model outperforms the current practice. This demonstrates the potential of OR to improve judicial efficiency.
External supervisor: Anouk Bergmans