Norros, Juridical Cooperation in Civil Matters with Russia and Methods of Evaluation

Can a Finnish judicial document be served to an addressee who resides in Russia? How can a foreign court hear a Russian witness? And does judicial cooperation with Russia differ from cooperation with other states? This doctoral dissertation seeks to answer these and similar questions. It breaks new ground in examining the reality of cooperation with judicial authorities of the Russian Federation. International judicial cooperation in civil matters is primarily regulated by the Hague Conventions on Service of Documents (1965) and the Taking of Evidence (1970). The Hague Conference on Private International Law monitors the implementation of treaties on the general level. The study focuses on an examination of Russian legislation, institutions and practice. It formulates 18 criteria for the purposes of evaluation. With the help of these criteria, the study compares Russia's compliance with treaties with compliance by other states. The study is enriched by an analysis of authentic requests for assistance between Finland and Russia. The book also contains a chapter on treaty conflicts. In conclusion, the study presents several recommendations for the improvement of cooperation. The study contributes to the theory of evaluation by comparing the Hague monitoring mechanism with several other evaluation models in use.