The present report, and the source of its findings, summarizes the results of research conducted in Brazil in 2003-2004. It is the second of two World Bank sponsored studies on the Brazilian judicial system. Its findings, while provocative, were obviously limited in their generalization, and as the study concluded, raised as many questions as they answered. This second effort is intended to address some of these questions by taking a broader, if less detailed look at sector operations - here defining the sector (or system) not just as the courts, but as the multiple formal and informal institutions involved in the resolution of conflicts through the application and enforcement of the legal framework.