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Judicial independence: Why does de facto diverge from de jure?

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  • Hayo, Bernd
  • Voigt, Stefan

Abstract

An independent judiciary is often hailed as one of the most important aspects of the rule of law. Securing judicial independence (JI) via explicit constitutional rules seems straightforward and there is evidence that de jure and de facto JI are linked, at least in the long term. However, the realized degree of judicial independence often diverges significantly from the constitutionally guaranteed one. Based on a worldwide panel dataset from 1950 to 2018, we find that a negative gap, that is, when de jure JI > de facto JI, is very common. Factors associated with a decreasing gap are the number of veto players and the extent of press freedom and democracy, whereas corruption is associated with an increasing gap between de jure JI and de facto JI.

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  • Hayo, Bernd & Voigt, Stefan, 2023. "Judicial independence: Why does de facto diverge from de jure?," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:poleco:v:79:y:2023:i:c:s0176268023000988
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ejpoleco.2023.102454
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    Cited by:

    1. Kantorowicz, Jaroslaw & Voigt, Stefan, 2024. "Assessing the Impact of Federalism on Constitutional Compliance," ILE Working Paper Series 79, University of Hamburg, Institute of Law and Economics.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Judicial independence; Constitutional compliance; de jure; de facto; de jure-de facto gap;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H11 - Public Economics - - Structure and Scope of Government - - - Structure and Scope of Government
    • K38 - Law and Economics - - Other Substantive Areas of Law - - - Human Rights Law; Gender Law; Animal Rights Law
    • P51 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Comparative Economic Systems - - - Comparative Analysis of Economic Systems

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