List of Illustrations Acknowledgements Notes on Contributors Part I Theory, Concepts and Methods 1. Informality and Courts: Towards a Relational Perspective on Judicial Politics Björn Dressel, Raul Sanchez Urribarri and Alexander Stroh 2. Paradoxical informalities? On the mutual logic of informal relationships and institutions Daniel M. Brinks 3. Convergence of de jure and de facto judicial independence? The role of informal institutions Andrea Pozas Loyo and Julio Rios Figueroa 4. The Ties that Bind: Perspectives on Judicial Loyalties Raul Sanchez Urribarri Part II Political Relations 5. Pliant Courts, Recalcitrant Chiefs and Judicial Clientelism in Authoritarian Regimes Alexei Trochev 6. Informality and Judicial Decision-Making: The Role of Judge Networks in Southeast Asia Björn Dressel 7.

When Informal Ties with Political Leaders Protect Judges' Fragile Independence: South Africa and Namibia after Apartheid Peter Brett 8. Judicial Resistance: The Shield and The Sword of Informality Katarína Sipulová Part III Professional Relations 9. The Bar with the Bench: Informal Legal Networks and Judicial Behaviour in Pakistan Yasser Kureshi 10. Education versus Experience? An Elite Legal Dynasty among Federal Judges in the United States Abigail V. Hassett and Kirk A. Randazzo 11. Argentina's 'Judicial Family': Mapping Family Connections in the Argentine Provincial Federal Judiciary Andrea Castagnola and Ezequiel Gonzalez-Ocantos 12. Gender, Informality and Courts: Mapping Theoretical Approaches David Kosar and Marína Urbániková Part IV International Ties 13.

Social Networks and Nonlegal Sanctions: Compliance with International Courts Shai Dothan 14. Informality and Multi-level Judicial Appointment Processes in African Regional Courts Alexander Stroh and Diana Kisakye 15. Disseminating Ideas and Influence Through Transnational Peer-Education Maartje De Visser 16. Good Intentions, Questionable Advice: Explaining Reform Networks' Disappointing Results Linn Hammergren Index.