Judicial Delay, Contract Uncertainty, and Development Performance

Abstract

This article argues that judicial delay is not a narrow administrative inconvenience but a development problem with direct effects on investment, contracting, firm behavior, and public trust. When disputes take too long, cost too much, or appear politically uneven, the economy adapts by shrinking the range of enforceable commitments. The article draws on institutional and judicial-effectiveness literature to show that slow courts increase transaction costs, discourage long-term contracting, and weaken the credibility of the rule of law. The analysis further argues that the solution lies less in headline reform promises than in procedural effectiveness, case management, enforceability, and integrated court administration. Judicial performance should therefore be understood as part of economic infrastructure. Where courts cannot deliver timely, credible decisions, market development, state legitimacy, and investment confidence all deteriorate.