Bosio, Erica2025-08-082025-08-082024-06-17The World Bank Research Observer0257-3032 (print)1564-6971 (online)https://hdl.handle.net/10986/43565Courts around the world are often perceived to be ineffective in delivering justice, as case resolution tends to be slow, costly, and biased in favor of the wealthy and politically connected factors that drive the need for judicial reform. Drawing on a quarter century of empirical research, this paper finds that judicial reform is most successful in enhancing court effectiveness when it aligns with or is driven by periods of extraordinary political change. The study examines four key dimensions of judicial effectiveness - independence, access, efficiency, and quality - and concludes that transformative reforms are most likely to succeed in countries emerging from conflict and violence or those seeking accession to regional or international organizations. In the absence of such conditions, reformers are better advised to focus on procedural rule changes that improve the performance of the existing judicial system. The survey also highlights procedural reforms that have been shown to deliver better outcomes.en-USCC BY-NC-ND 3.0 IGOACCESS TO JUSTICEJUSTICE (PUBLIC SECTOR MANAGEMENT)ECONOMIC GROWTH POLICYJournal ArticleWorld Bank