Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Acronyms and Abbreviations -- Executive Summary -- 1 Introduction -- 2 The First Decade of Reform -- Antecedents -- The Reform Agenda: Legislation and Institutional Change -- Donor Support -- The EU Imperative -- Citizens' Views on the First Reform Decade -- 3 Legal and Judicial Institutions Ten Years Into Transition -- The "Implementation Gap" -- Court Performance -- Understanding the Linkages Among Reforms -- What Makes Courts Problematic for Firms? -- Toward a Typology for Judicial Reforms -- 4 Conclusion: Lessons for Future Reform -- General Lessons -- Setting Priorities -- Appendices -- 1 Turkey-A Different Path for Legal and Judicial Reform -- 2 The World Bank's Support for Judicial Reform in Transition Economies -- 3 Methodology -- Bibliography -- Index -- Boxes -- 1.1 Sources -- 2.1 The Drive to Pass Laws to Meet European Union Deadlines -- 3.1 The Need to Upgrade Technology -- Figures -- Summary Figure 1 Evaluations of Courts by Firms, 1999 and 2002 -- Summary Figure 2 Perceptions of the Efficiency and Neutrality of the Legal System, 2004 -- Summary Figure 3 Capacity and Demand for Judicial Reforms -- 1.1 Lagging Improvements in the Judiciary, 1999 and 2002 -- 2.1 Views of the State and the Economy, 1990 -- 2.2 Accessibility of Draft Laws, 1999 -- 2.3 Ability to Comment on Draft Laws, 1999 -- 2.4 Trust in Courts, 1993-8 -- 2.5 Trust in Courts Relative to Parliament and Government, 1993-8 -- 3.1 Institutions Have Lagged Lawmaking, 1999 -- 3.2 Changes in the "Implementation Gap," 1999 and 2002 -- 3.3 Assessments of Aspects of the Judiciary in 14 Transition Economies -- 3.4 Are Courts Independent Enough to Challenge the State? Relative Perceptions of Firms, 1998, 2001, and 2004 -- 3.5 Efficiency Considerations Lag Independence -- 3.6 Assessments of Courts as "Quick," 1999 and 2002.

3.7 The Time Delay to Collect on a Debt Through Courts -- 3.8 Average Length of Time to Collect a Debt in Various Regions -- 3.9 Assessments of Courts as "Affordable," 1999 and 2002 -- 3.10 Independence and Accountability -- 3.11 Assessments of Courts as "Fair," 1999 and 2002 -- 3.12 Assessments of Courts as "Honest," 1999 and 2002 -- 3.13 Unofficial Payments and Gifts When Dealing With Courts, 1999 and 2002 -- 3.14 Do Judges' Salaries Relative to Lawyers' Salaries Affect the Fairness of Courts? -- 3.15 Assessments of Courts as "Able to Enforce Decisions," 1999 and 2002 -- 3.16 Procedural Complexity and the Effect on Firms -- 3.17 Reforms Increase Pressure on Courts, 2002 -- 3.18 Pressure on the Courts Slows Them Down, 2002 -- 3.19 Courts are Viewed as Less Problematic Where They Are Less Relevant, 2002 -- 3.20 Functioning of the Judiciary as a Problem Doing Business, 1999 and 2002 -- 3.21 The Judiciary Compared to Other "Problems," 2002 -- 3.22 Relative Importance of Various Factors in Explaining the Functioning of the Judiciary in Transition Countries, 1999 and 2002 -- 3.23 Capacity and Demand for Judicial Services, 2002 -- 3.24 The Judiciary as a Problem, by Capacity and Demand for Judicial Services, 2002 -- A1.1 Judicial Independence -- A1.2 Speed of Court Proceedings -- A1.3 Cost of Enforcing a Contract -- A1.4 Time to Enforce a Contract -- A1.5 Courts' Enforcement Capacity -- A1.6 Reliability of Courts -- Tables -- 2.1 Evolution of World Bank Legal Reform Projects in Europe and Central Asia -- A3.1 Estimation of the Relationship Between Court Use, Court Speed, and Perceptions of the Qualities of Courts.

Judicial Systems in Transition Economies looks at the experience of countries in Central and Eastern Europe and the Baltics (CEE) and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) as they reform their legal and judicial institutions to fit the needs of a market economy. The study shows, rather disturbingly, that less progress has been made in judicial reform than in most other areas of institutional reform in these countries.The transition from socialism to capitalism requires a fundamental reorientation of legal and judicial institutions. This study reviews the environment preceding reforms, forces that provoked and supported them, and the reform agendas undertaken in these countries since 1990. Against this background, it exposes the impact of reforms, implementation gaps, and the underlying determinants of success and failure.The report examines how courts have performed, and reveals their impact on public opinion and the business environment. It provides insight into linkages among reforms as well as linkages between reforms and public demand for a fair judiciary. The authors show that while each country presents different challenges and opportunities, certain lessons apply in most settings. Their insights and data would be useful to policy makers, judicial personnel, and those involved in reforming judiciaries.The study draws on numerous data sources. These include the World Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD, the American Bar Association-Central European and Eurasian Law Initiative (ABA-CEELI), the World Values Survey, the World Economic Forum, and the University of Strathclyde.

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Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, 2018. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries.