Description
Book SynopsisEveryday Law in Russia 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, Kathryn Hendley explores how ordinary Russian citizens experience law. Relying on her own extensive observational research in Russia's new justice-of-the-peace courts as well as her analysis of a series of focus groups, she documents Russians' complicated attitudes regarding law. The same Russian citizen who might shy away from taking a dispute with a state agency or powerful individual to court might be willing to sue her insurance company if it refuses to compensate her for damages following an auto accident. Hendley finds 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 ord
Trade Review
Hendley's case studies are absolutely fascinating and take us right into the lives of ordinary Russians."
* SCRSS Digest *
In this truly excellent book, Kathyrn Hendley seeks to understand how the everyday legal system works in contemporary Russia. [...] In this valuable book, Hendley manages to construct a deeper analytical narrative that gives life to the presence of conflict resolution in Russia, without denying the reality of politicized justice and the various obstacles to judicial independence and efficiency.
-- Emma Gilligan, Indiana University (Bloomington) * The Russian Review *
This book challenges the prevailing common wisdom that Russians cannot rely on their law and that Russian courts are hopelessly politicized and corrupt. Drawing on extensive observational research in Russia's new justice of the peace courts as well as on focus groups and interviews, Hendley finds that 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.
* Law & Social Inquiry *
Using a wide range of western sociology of law and society literature, she helps us understand that Russian lawyers are working in a context that shares features common with our system. Her well-written book will be accessible and useful not just to specialists of Russia and Russian law, but to a larger community of research specialists. Its nuanced understanding of Russia today is a much-needed antidote to a lot of what we are exposed to in the contemporary popular press.
* Slavic Review *
Table of ContentsIntroduction: Lawlessness in Russia? Rethinking the Narratives of Law
1. Legal Consciousness(es) in Russia
2. Dealing with Damage from Home Water Leaks
3. Dealing with Auto Accidents
4. The View from the Benches of the Justice-of-the-Peace Courts
5. The View from the Trenches of the Justice-of-the-Peace Courts
Conclusion: Rethinking the Role of Law in Russia
