President Putin has called on the Duma to ratify changes to the arbitration courts that will take effect in 2006. The plan is to replace local appeals courts with 20 inter-regional courts. Supporters say it will cut down on biased appellate rulings.
Since the accession states are all mindful of the necessity of coming in line with European policy before they join the European Union (EU) next year, their programmes for reform are set up in a different manner. There is the argument that time spent on judicial reform is time wasted, for if they are going to rebuild, for example, the commercial code, why not bring it in line with EU policy straight away? Accession states including Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovenia have agreed to implement certain new directives and initiatives. So far, however, any overhauls of the commercial codes have been relatively minor, with much more to come. However, all of the countries are planning to implement revised legislation to bring them further in line with EU directives. The Hungarian Government is undertaking a major overhaul of its Telecom Act, a situation which will call for more arbitration as it is supposed to facilitate equal competition in the market.
