On the whole, 46% of the respondents negatively assessed the work of Russian courts and judges, while about half as many of those asked, 26%, were positive about their work. Forty-seven percent of Russians believe sentences to be unjust and only 24% believe unjust verdicts to be a rarity. These figures, however, show that Russians' attitude to the justice system has improved over the past years. In 2001, 58% of respondents believed sentences were unjust. However, this year, 62% of citizens believe that judges were not merely guided by law in their decisions, but by "other circumstances" as well.
Thirty-nine percent of the respondents are ready to go to court to solve conflicts, and slightly more, 44%, prefer to avoid any contact with the court system if possible.
At the same time, judicial system representatives believe that despite the results of the poll pointing to a general distrust of judges, the number of civil claims is steadily increasing. "In eight years, this indicator has gone up from one to six million a year," said Yuri Sidorenko, head of the Russian Council of Judges.
According to the survey, the opinions on the court branch's independence have nearly split by half. Forty percent advocated its further independence, while 38% spoke in favor of more control from the top officials.
Two thousand people took part in the survey.
