Slovak Republic : Legal and Judicial Sector Assessment

The purpose of this legal and judicial sector assessment is to evaluate Slovak Republic's legal and judicial systems and institutions, and identify their strengths and weaknesses. The assessment serves as a flexible tool for application across countries and legal systems, applying a broad based, demand driven and bottom-up methodology. This report is divided into two parts. The first part, which concentrates on the Slovak Judicial Sector, identifies areas where court performance could be improved through better management. It begins with a description of the courts then turns to an analysis of the overall management of the court system and the courts' performance. The second part of the report concentrates on the Legal Services provided by attorneys and commercial lawyers. It analyzes the appropriateness of the framework in which legal services are supplied, including the self-regulation of the legal profession, to ensure adequate access to legal services for all users. The government's role in regulating the legal services markets to ensure that all citizens, including underprivileged groups, are afforded adequate access to legal services, is discussed. The report relies on a combination of data sources, including surveys, interviews, expert assessments, and statistics, all of which provide a basis for cross-reference. A major source of information was the findings of a World Bank-U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) survey that analyzed the level of corruption in Slovakia. Court statistics were used with care, owing to potential problems with their collection and organization. European Union (EU) standards and practices were used as benchmarks in analyzing the legal services market.