Defendants enjoy a presumption of innocence. Evidence suggests that the courts protect individual rights in criminal cases. The autonomous Institute for Judicial Support, to which most private lawyers belong, provides free counsel for indigent defendants. The defense is permitted to present witnesses and has access to government evidence. Verdicts may be appealed.
Regional courts adjudicate minor disputes on the local level in rural areas.
The local judges, appointees of the Ministry of Justice and Labor, usually are prominent local citizens. As older judges retire, the Government appoints local judges with higher levels of education. Regional court decisions may be appealed to the Supreme Court. The Government did not take any new initiatives to relieve the overburdened judicial system, and the courts continued to experience a backlog of cases. The average time for a case to come to trial is in excess of 6 months.