Law Commons^™

The Role Of Informal Legal Institutions In Economic Development, Kevin J. Fandl

Kevin J Fandl

The purveyance of the rule of law in developing countries has frequently been associated with positive economic development. Better clarity, scope, transparency and enforcement of the laws will promote confidence and trust in the formal legal system, the argument suggests. At its core, this argument misses a fundamental yet widely recognized tangent to the rule of law – the role of informal legal institutions. The perception of legal systems perpetrated by the state - formal legal systems - is negative in many developing countries. Corruption, high costs and lengthy time periods for issue resolution limit the ability and willingness of …