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11 E. Eur. Const. Rev. 125 (2002)
The Two Faces of Russian Courts: Evidence from a Survey of Company Managers

handle is hein.journals/eeurcr11 and id is 125 raw text is: The Two Faces of Russian Courts: Evidence from a Survey of Company Managers Timothy Frye Rule-of-law reform will succeed only if it gets at the fundamental problem of leaders who refuse to be ruled by the law. -Thomas Carothersl ver the last several years, various observers have vigorously debated the performance of courts in Russia. Some scholars, such as Kathryn Hendley, Peter Murrell, and Randi Ryterman, argue that the courts in Russia operate reasonably well, particularly in comparison to courts in other countries.2 They find that Russian business managers are about as likely to go to court as they are elsewhere and argue that once one adopts a more real- istic standard for performance, courts in Russia do not fare badly. In short, law matters in Russia. Others, particularly those in the popular press and policy world, have a dim view of courts in Russia. They argue that the system is plagued with unqualified judges, corruption, and political interference at all levels. Moreover, they note the court system is a signif- icant drag on the economy. As President Vladimir Putin told parliament in April 2001: We badly need judicial reform today. The country's judicial system is lagging behind real life and is not very helpful in carrying out economic transactions. Not only for entrepreneurs but also for many people who are seeking to restore their rights in law, the courts have not been quick, fair, and impartial. This essay presents a slightly different perspec- tive on the debate. Based on the results from a survey of 500 firms conducted in Russia in November 2000, it shows that the perceived performance of the arbi- tration (arbitrazh) courts depends significantly on whether the cases involve private or state agents. Company managers expressed a fairly positive view of the work of arbitration courts in adjudicating conflicts with other private entities but had far less confidence that the courts would protect their rights in conflicts with state officials. They expressed considerable skepticism that decisions against local or regional governments could be enforced, and many believed that state officials put pressure on the arbi- tration courts. Thus, Russia faces the critical problem of creating judicial institutions that allow, indeed, encourage, government officials to make a credible commitment to abide by the rule of law. The survey Assessing the performance of court systems is tricky. Doing so, when cases involve state agents, is doubly so. For example, reviewing the rate at which private citi- zens win cases against the state can be misleading if citizens only bring to court cases of the most egregious violations of their rights. The significance of win rates can also be difficult to interpret if citizens are especially reluctant to challenge the state in court. Reviewing the total number of cases against the state raises similar problems. Citizens may bring more cases to trial because of arbitrariness by the state rather than because of the strong performance of the courts. WINTER/SPRING 2002 125

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