Judicial independence is not only a necessary condition for the impartiality of judges, it can also endanger it: judges that are independent could have incentives to remain uninformed, become lazy or even corrupt. It is therefore often argued that judicial independence and judicial...

We find an economic rationale for the common sense answer to the question in our title courts should not always enforce what the contracting parties write. We describe and analyze a contractual environment that allows a role for an active court. An active court can improve on the outcome that...

It has been argued that procedural formalism undermines economic efficiency by fostering rent-seeking and corruption. We challenge this view by arguing that a number of judicial procedures foster economic growth by increasing the predictability of court decisions, which leads to more...

The Condorcet Jury Theorem is derived from the implicit assumption that jury members only commit one type of error. If the probability of this error is smaller than 0.5, then group decisions are better than those of individual members. In binary decision situations, however, two types of error...

Rational politicians are interested in judicial independence (JI) in order to make their promises credible. But if politicians' preferences deviate from the dicta of the judiciary, they also have incentives to renege on judicial independence. These two conflicting aspects are measured by two...

Contract enforcement does not only affect single transactions but the market as a whole. We compare alternative institutions that allocate enforcement rights to the different parties to a credit transaction: either lenders, borrowers, or judges. Despite all parties having incentives to enforce...

This essay addresses the proper scope of judicial intervention in the field of election administration. It argues that the Supreme Court would generally do best to leave issues of election administration to the lower courts, at least in the short term. The essay begins by surveying the doctrinal...

A company voluntary arrangement ('CVA') under Part I of the Insolvency Act 1986 ('IA') is a statutory contract into which terms may be implied on ordinary contractual principles. Although some cases proclaim that the court has no power to vary the terms of a CVA or authorise a breach of the CVA...

The Ohio Supreme Court has changed significantly over the past six years. Significant turnover on the court has produced significant change in the court's approach to many legal issues, in particular the degree of deference shown to legislatively enacted policies. Whereas the court of the 1990s...

Scholars have long sought to resolve whether and to what degree political actor diversity influences the outputs of political institutions like legislatures, administrative agencies, and courts. When it comes to the judiciary, diverse judges may greatly affect outcomes. Despite this potential,...