Optimal Panel Size at the Supreme Court of Canada

I have posted a new draft of a paper addressing the optimal size of a panel to hear appeals. It is entitled, "On Optimal Panel Size, with Evidence from the Supreme Court of Canada." It is coauthored work with my colleagues Andrew Green and Ed Iacobucci. Here is the abstract:

The US Supreme Court typically sits en banc. Historically, the House of Lords in the UK sat in panels of five. Its new successor, the UK Supreme Court, now sits in panels of five, seven or nine justices. A similar practice has long been in place at the Supreme Court of Canada, which routinely sits in panels of .five, seven, or nine justices. We develop a formal model of the optimal choice of panel size. The model suggests that in the presence of scarce judicial resources, panel sizes can be deliberately adjusted to improve allocational e.fficiency. Using data from appeals heard by the Supreme Court of Canada from 1984-2005, we uncover evidence that the Court may be using varied panel sizes in a manner consistent with the predictions of our model.

Comments and suggestions are most welcome.