#196: ICG on Judicial Reform

The International Crisis Group released a report on challenges of judicial reforms in Kyrgyzstan. The reports comes at a time when it is most needed. The complete report is available here. It draws a pretty gloomy picture for Kyrgyzstan.

"A lack of faith in the independence of judges, widespread corruption and the extremely slow speed of many legal processes have all fuelled a worrying public disaffection with the court system”, says Paul Quinn-Judge, Crisis Group’s Central Asia Project Director. “People are turning elsewhere to resolve disputes, and informal local leaders – many with criminal connections or promoting Sharia law – are filling the void".

"The judicial system has failed to act as a check on growing authoritarianism”, says Saniya Sagnaeva, Crisis Group Senior Analyst. “Without thorough reforms, it is impossible to develop a pluralistic and stable political system over the long term".