Enforcing Contracts Around the World: Court Efficiency and Access to Justice in 189 Economies

1. Enforcing Contracts Around the World: Court Efficiency and Access to Justice in 189 Economies Melissa Johns Advisor, Global Indicators Development Economics, World Bank Group

2. Doing Business – Women, Business and the Law – FDI Regulations Database Presents indicators on countries’ laws, regulations and practices affecting how foreign companies invest across sectors and arbitrate commercial disputes, among others. Analyzes laws and institutions that impact women entrepreneurs and employees globally. Provides objective measures of business regulations and their enforcement across 189 economies and selected cities at the subnational and regional level. Enforcing Contracts Around the World: Court Efficiency and Access to Justice in 189 Economies

3. Doing Business – What does Enforcing Contracts measure? Enforcing Contracts Around the World: Court Efficiency and Access to Justice in 189 Economies To resolve a commercial dispute in the local courts, how long will it take, how much will it cost and what steps are required?

4. Doing Business – Where is it easy to resolve a commercial dispute? Top10Performers Luxembourg Korea, Rep. Iceland Norway Germany Austria France Finland Hong Kong SAR, China Russian Federation Enforcing Contracts Around the World: Court Efficiency and Access to Justice in 189 Economies

5. Doing Business – Where is it more difficult to enforce a contract through the local courts? Bottom 10 Performers 189. Timor-Leste 188. Myanmar 187. Angola 186. India 185. Bangladesh 184. Suriname 183. São Tomé and Príncipe 182. Honduras 181. Benin 180. Central African Republic Enforcing Contracts Around the World: Court Efficiency and Access to Justice in 189 Economies

6. Doing Business – Reforms in Malaysia Improvements in Malaysia since 2009 • Implementation of a case management system • Reorganization of the Commercial Division of the Kuala Lumpur high court and training of judges • Expansion of an “e-court” project • Queue management system using text messaging to notify lawyers of hearing dates • Digital planners enabling registrars to schedule hearings on the basis of which judge is available earliest • Court recording and transcription system provides video and audio recordings of proceedings • Introduction of electronic filing Reduction of backlogs by more than 50% between 2009 and 2011 Enforcing Contracts Around the World: Court Efficiency and Access to Justice in 189 Economies

7. Doing Business – Reforms in Cote d’Ivoire Côte d’Ivoire introduced a commercial court and cut the time to enforce contracts by 185 days Enforcing Contracts Around the World: Court Efficiency and Access to Justice in 189 Economies

8. Why does it matter? Studies link efficient contract enforcement with Improved access to credit Decreased informality Increase in trade • Long resolution times render litigation irrelevant • High litigation costs influence the parties’ decision on whether or not to go to court • Dabla-Norris, Gradstein and Inchauste, 2008; Safavian, Mehnaz, and Siddharth Sharma, 2007; Duval and Utoktham, 2009. Enforcing Contracts Around the World: Court Efficiency and Access to Justice in 189 Economies

9. FDI Regulations Database - Arbitrating and Mediating Disputes The project measures: • The strength of the legal and institutional framework and practice related to alternative dispute resolution (with a focus on commercial arbitration, but also covering mediation and conciliation), • The ease of initiating and resolving commercial disputes involving foreign-owned companies through alternative dispute resolution, and • The extent of judicial assistance during arbitration proceedings as well as at the stage of the recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral award. FDI Regulations Database 2012 Recognition/enforcement proceedings for foreign arbitral awards can also vary, note Latin America and the Caribbean (average 90 weeks), Sub-Saharan Africa (average 65 weeks), and East Asia and the Pacific (average 39 weeks). Enforcing Contracts Around the World: Court Efficiency and Access to Justice in 189 Economies

10. Women, Business and the Law – Small claims courts and access to justice Small claims courts are of extreme importance for women, since studies have shown that businesses owned by women tend to be smaller than those owned by men. In a 11 economies, women’s testimony carries less evidentiary weight than a man’s. In Democratic Rep. of Congo, married women need the permission of their husband to initiate a suit. Enforcing Contracts Around the World: Court Efficiency and Access to Justice in 189 Economies

11. Doing Business – Upcoming research on courts Enforcing Contracts indicators • Quality of the judicial infrastructure • Publication of judgments, availability of voluntary mediation • Mechanics of the process • Case management, e-filing, automation of court processes Measures of labor courts • Mechanisms available to workers and firms to resolve labor disputes • Availability of specialized jurisdictions dealing exclusively with labor issues • Types of sanctions that could be imposed on the employer for wrongful dismissal (compensation, reassignment, etc.) • Length of the dispute Enforcing Contracts Around the World: Court Efficiency and Access to Justice in 189 Economies

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