The purpose of this legal and judicialsector assessment is to evaluate Slovak Republic'slegal and judicial systems and institutions, and identifytheir strengths and weaknesses. The assessment serves as aflexible tool for application across countries and legalsystems, applying a broad based, demand driven and bottom-upmethodology. This report is divided into two parts. Thefirst part, which concentrates on the Slovak JudicialSector, identifies areas where court performance could beimproved through better management. It begins with adescription of the courts then turns to an analysis of theoverall management of the court system and the courts'performance. The second part of the report concentrates onthe Legal Services provided by attorneys and commerciallawyers. It analyzes the appropriateness of the framework inwhich legal services are supplied, including theself-regulation of the legal profession, to ensure adequateaccess to legal services for all users. Thegovernment's role in regulating the legal servicesmarkets to ensure that all citizens, includingunderprivileged groups, are afforded adequate access tolegal services, is discussed. The report relies on acombination of data sources, including surveys, interviews,expert assessments, and statistics, all of which provide abasis for cross-reference. A major source of information wasthe findings of a World Bank-U.S. Agency for InternationalDevelopment (USAID) survey that analyzed the level ofcorruption in Slovakia. Court statistics were used withcare, owing to potential problems with their collection andorganization. European Union (EU) standards and practiceswere used as benchmarks in analyzing the legal services market.