Definition
The list of procedural steps compiled for each economy traces the chronology of a commercial dispute before the relevant court. A procedure is defined as any interaction, required by law or commonly used in practice, between the parties or between them and the judge or court officer. This includes steps to file and serve the case, steps for trial and judgment and steps necessary to enforce the judgment.
The survey allows respondents to record procedures that exist in civil law but not common law jurisdictions and vice versa. For example, in civil law countries the judge can appoint an independent expert, while in common law countries each party submits a list of expert witnesses to the court. To indicate overall efficiency, 1 procedure is subtracted from the total number for economies that have specialized commercial courts, and 1 procedure for economies that allow electronic filing of court cases. Some procedural steps that take place simultaneously with or are included in other procedural steps are not counted in the total number of procedures.
