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This Institutional and Economic Assessment of the Judiciary of the Republic of Uganda (JoU) responds to the request for support in strengthening the evidence base for effective resource allocation and decision-making so that the JoU can better contribute to Uganda's overall development goals. Despite its critical role in facilitating social and economic development priorities in Uganda, the JoU operates well below its potential due in part to under-investment. This report aims to address three key questions: i) what could be the economic impact of enhanced investment in the JoU? ii) how is the JoU performing in relation to three indicators of performance - access, efficiency and quality?; and iii) what are the short- and medium-term actions that Uganda can take to improve the functioning of the JoU to address its core development challenges? This assessment sought to use the methodology of a public institutional and expenditure analysis, to examine the extent to which the allocation, expenditure and distribution of financial, human, technology and infrastructure resources serve the objectives of the JoU. Three types of data were collected and analyzed. Section three examines the links between judicial performance and broader economic and social development objectives. It offers an economic analysis that demonstrates the value of investment in the commercial court and that can serve as a model for further cost benefit analysis of other aspects of the Judiciary should data become available. Section four analyzes JoU administrative data to assess judicial performance and proposes practical steps that can be taken to enhance the utilization of existing data for decision-making and to improve the quality of data. Section five provides an analysis of judicial budget allocation and expenditure and proposes a way to link resource allocation with judicial performance. Section six sets out recommendations for the enhancement of evidence-based decision-making for the JoU.

Access to Justice --- Law and Development --- Law and Justice Institutions

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Evidence suggests that poor court performance negatively affects the economy. Complaints about the business climate are often associated with complicated procedural laws and backlogs that beleaguer the system and slow it down. According to the European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice (CEPEJ) 2018 report, it takes on average 315 days to resolve a civil and commercial case in a first instance court in Serbia.1 This is well above the EU average of 233 days. Small value cases that get stuck in Serbia's Basic Courts perpetuate backlogs, hamper access to justice and consume a disproportionate amount of judicial resources relative to the value of these cases. This report provides a comparative analysis of the procedure for resolving small claims in Serbia and recommendations to improve it, based on lessons learned from comparator jurisdictions: Austria, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Latvia and Slovenia. The report was developed under the Multi-Donor Trust Fund for Justice Sector Support in Serbia (MDTF-JSS) and is informed by a broader World Bank initiative to support justice policy dialogue and reform in the Western Balkans. The analysis is primarily intended for the legal community in Serbia, including policy makers, judges, lawyers and those in academia.

Contract Law --- Law and Development --- Law and Justice Institutions

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The costs and long duration of court proceedings can be discouraging, and for the poor and micro and small enterprises (MSMEs) it can preclude access to justice entirely. According to the latest CEPEJ data, in 2014 disposition time of first instance civil and commercial litigious cases ranged from 97 days in Lithuania to 532 in Italy, with an overall EU average of 250 days.2 Costs (comprising both lawyer and court fees) can sometimes be greater than the value of the claim. Legislators around the world have long recognized that disputes concerning smaller claims may not require the same complex procedures and rules; instead, they can be resolved in a cheaper and more efficient manner. Although small claims procedure is not a new phenomenon and has existed for decades, it has only recently gained traction. Factors such as popular demand spur more and more countries into looking for new and faster ways to deal with smaller claims, as citizens are looking for simpler, ICT-enabled ways to resolve smaller disputes. This report provides a comparative analysis of small claims procedure in the 28 EU Member States, including lessons learned and good practices, to inform EU members and candidate countries looking to introduce or reform their small claims procedure. It considers a number of dimensions, namely: court fees, thresholds, institutional set-up, use of technology, the role of lawyers, lawyer fees, and avenues of appeal.

Law and Development --- Law and Justice Institutions --- Legal Products --- Legal Reform --- Settlement of Investment Disputes

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This report focuses on recommendations for the improvement of civil procedure rules and selected trial processes with the aim to increase procedural efficiency and reduce bottlenecks in commercial case processing in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The following aspects of case processing are analyzed: (i) service of process; (ii) hearings and adjournments; (iii) expert witnesses; (iv) bankruptcy trustees; (v) court fees; (vi) internal court rules; and (vii) use of Case Management System (CMS). The accompanying recommendations are developed in response to the existing legal framework that governs these selected aspects of commercial case processing and rely on existing good examples from Bosnia and Herzegovina courts, the regulatory framework of countries that share the same legal heritage as Bosnia and Herzegovina with a particular focus on European Union and Council of Europe member states, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) case law, as well as recommendations and opinions of international institutions on judicial efficiency.

Corporate Law --- Law and Development --- Law and Justice Institutions --- Legal Framework --- Legal Reform

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Reform of the judiciary is a key element of Serbia's European Union (EU) accession process, and in ensuring sustainable economic growth and delivering justice to Serbian citizens and businesses. Reform of the judiciary has been ongoing since the regime change in 2000. However, efforts accelerated in the more stable and pro-European political environment after 2008.

Law and Development --- Law and Justice Institutions --- Legal Reform --- Public Sector Development --- Public Sector Management and Reform