Obstacles to achieving in-court settlements: Perspective of Czech judicial practice

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.35295/osls.iisl.1696

Keywords:

civil proceedings, litigation, settlement, judge, attorney

Abstract

In-court settlement is often considered not only socially but also economically advantageous resolution of legal disputes as it is typically less costly for governments and parties to the dispute than a judgment. Using data from a survey experiment administered via computer assisted web interviews with 450 judges and 500 attorneys, we investigate reasons for the low settlement rate and appropriate procedures to increase this rate. We find that a significant factor influencing the settlement probability is the type of case (e. g., passenger transport, loan contracts, insurance). We also find that oral preparation of court hearing, making the parties to the dispute acquainted with the legal opinion of the court as well as the attorney’s support for the parties to settle the dispute have an impact on settlement probabilities.

 

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Author Biographies

Jan Holas, Masaryk University

Jan Holas, Masaryk University, Faculty of Law, Department of Civil Procedure. E-mail: Jan.Holas@law.muni.cz

Petr Lavický, Masaryk University

Petr Lavický, Masaryk University, Faculty of Law, Department of Civil Procedure. E-mail: Petr.Lavicky@law.muni.cz

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Published

03-10-2023

How to Cite

Holas, J. and Lavický, P. (2023) “Obstacles to achieving in-court settlements: Perspective of Czech judicial practice”, Oñati Socio-Legal Series, 13(5), pp. 1817–1840. doi: 10.35295/osls.iisl.1696.