Kathryn Hendley
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2017
- ISBN:
- 9781501705243
- eISBN:
- 9781501708107
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9781501705243.003.0005
- Subject:
- Law, Public International Law
This chapter examines how judges at Russia's busiest set of courts, the justice-of-the-peace courts (JP courts or mirovye sudy), see themselves and their role. When ordinary Russians are unable to ...
More
This chapter examines how judges at Russia's busiest set of courts, the justice-of-the-peace courts (JP courts or mirovye sudy), see themselves and their role. When ordinary Russians are unable to resolve simple problems on their own, the JP courts represent their port of entry into the legal system. For them, the justices of the peace (JPs) are the face of the legal system. JPs often find themselves in an awkward position as they seek to balance justice and efficiency. Their behavior provides an intriguing lens into the contemporary Russian judicial system. The chapter first explains how the JP courts fit into the larger Russian judicial system and how they have evolved over their relatively short life. It then considers how one becomes a JP and what sort of people tend to become JPs. It also describes the day-to-day reality of life for JPs, with particular emphasis on their caseloads as well as the key challenges facing them and their responses to such challenges. Finally, it looks at the self-images of JPs.Less
This chapter examines how judges at Russia's busiest set of courts, the justice-of-the-peace courts (JP courts or mirovye sudy), see themselves and their role. When ordinary Russians are unable to resolve simple problems on their own, the JP courts represent their port of entry into the legal system. For them, the justices of the peace (JPs) are the face of the legal system. JPs often find themselves in an awkward position as they seek to balance justice and efficiency. Their behavior provides an intriguing lens into the contemporary Russian judicial system. The chapter first explains how the JP courts fit into the larger Russian judicial system and how they have evolved over their relatively short life. It then considers how one becomes a JP and what sort of people tend to become JPs. It also describes the day-to-day reality of life for JPs, with particular emphasis on their caseloads as well as the key challenges facing them and their responses to such challenges. Finally, it looks at the self-images of JPs.
Kathryn Hendley
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2017
- ISBN:
- 9781501705243
- eISBN:
- 9781501708107
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9781501705243.003.0006
- Subject:
- Law, Public International Law
This chapter examines how litigants experience Russia's justice-of-the-peace courts (JP courts). The views of judges are unlikely to mirror those of litigants. For judges, the judicial process ...
More
This chapter examines how litigants experience Russia's justice-of-the-peace courts (JP courts). The views of judges are unlikely to mirror those of litigants. For judges, the judicial process represents routine behavior, whereas for most litigants, it opens a Pandora's box of formal rules and informal norms that are unfamiliar and mysterious. This is particularly true for the JP courts, which handle the simplest cases. The chapter first provides an overview of access to justice in Russia before turning to legal literacy, and especially how Russians negotiate the JP courts without a lawyer. It then considers the availability and use of legal expertise by Russians, along with litigants' participation in judicial hearings as performance and their satisfaction with the JP courts. It also describes the image of JP courts and suggests that litigants' willingness to turn to the courts provides a window into the demand for law and, more generally, Russian legal culture.Less
This chapter examines how litigants experience Russia's justice-of-the-peace courts (JP courts). The views of judges are unlikely to mirror those of litigants. For judges, the judicial process represents routine behavior, whereas for most litigants, it opens a Pandora's box of formal rules and informal norms that are unfamiliar and mysterious. This is particularly true for the JP courts, which handle the simplest cases. The chapter first provides an overview of access to justice in Russia before turning to legal literacy, and especially how Russians negotiate the JP courts without a lawyer. It then considers the availability and use of legal expertise by Russians, along with litigants' participation in judicial hearings as performance and their satisfaction with the JP courts. It also describes the image of JP courts and suggests that litigants' willingness to turn to the courts provides a window into the demand for law and, more generally, Russian legal culture.
Kathryn Hendley
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2017
- ISBN:
- 9781501705243
- eISBN:
- 9781501708107
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9781501705243.001.0001
- Subject:
- Law, Public International Law
This book challenges the prevailing common wisdom that Russians cannot rely on their law and that Russian courts are hopelessly politicized and corrupt. While acknowledging the persistence of ...
More
This book challenges the prevailing common wisdom that Russians cannot rely on their law and that Russian courts are hopelessly politicized and corrupt. While acknowledging the persistence of verdicts dictated by the Kremlin in politically charged cases, the text explores how ordinary Russian citizens experience law. Relying on extensive observational research in Russia's new justice-of-the-peace courts as well as analysis of a series of focus groups, the book documents Russians' complicated attitudes regarding law. It shows that Russian judges pay close attention to the law in mundane disputes, which account for the vast majority of the cases brought to the Russian courts. Any reluctance on the part of ordinary Russian citizens to use the courts is driven primarily by their fear of the time and cost—measured in both financial and emotional terms—of the judicial process. Like their American counterparts, Russians grow more willing to pursue disputes as the social distance between them and their opponents increases; Russians are loath to sue friends and neighbors, but are less reluctant when it comes to strangers or acquaintances. The book concludes that the “rule of law” rubric is ill suited to Russia and other authoritarian polities where law matters most—but not all—of the time.Less
This book challenges the prevailing common wisdom that Russians cannot rely on their law and that Russian courts are hopelessly politicized and corrupt. While acknowledging the persistence of verdicts dictated by the Kremlin in politically charged cases, the text explores how ordinary Russian citizens experience law. Relying on extensive observational research in Russia's new justice-of-the-peace courts as well as analysis of a series of focus groups, the book documents Russians' complicated attitudes regarding law. It shows that Russian judges pay close attention to the law in mundane disputes, which account for the vast majority of the cases brought to the Russian courts. Any reluctance on the part of ordinary Russian citizens to use the courts is driven primarily by their fear of the time and cost—measured in both financial and emotional terms—of the judicial process. Like their American counterparts, Russians grow more willing to pursue disputes as the social distance between them and their opponents increases; Russians are loath to sue friends and neighbors, but are less reluctant when it comes to strangers or acquaintances. The book concludes that the “rule of law” rubric is ill suited to Russia and other authoritarian polities where law matters most—but not all—of the time.
