The Japanese are far less likely to settle their disputes in a court of law than Europeans or Americans. Is this a product of their mentality? Do they know of better ways of resolving conflict? Or are they lacking in legal alternatives? These are some of the questions being explored by Harald Baum and his colleagues in the Japan Unit at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law in Hamburg.

After 23 years of civil war and the demise of the Taliban regime, Afghanistan is faced with radical change. The future of the country is dependent primarily on the development of the rule
of law.