Archibald Cox, Williston Professor of Law, endorsed Tuesday pending legislation that would reform the Massachusetts judiciary system. The legislation, aimed at a more efficient use of courts and judges, would transfer civil cases currently overcrowding the Suffolk County Courthouse to the new, underused Middlesex County Courthouse.

Cox heads the Select Committee on Judicial Needs, a group apoointed by Governor Michael S. Dukakis to improve the quality of the judicial system in Massachusetts and alleviate backlogs in court cases.

Because of a state statute that requires a case to be heard in a specific locality, the Middlesex County Courthouse is not being used fully and the Suffolk County Courthouse has a large backlog of civil cases, Brownloe Speer, director of the select committee, said yesterday.