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Court speed across Europe

· first posted on LinkedIn

How quickly can Europe’s courts work through civil disputes? The differences are substantial.

Map of Europe shaded by how many days first-instance civil and commercial disputes take to resolve in 2022, from 746 days in Greece to 115 in Iceland across 35 countries. The full list is in the table below the article.View full size
Civil and commercial disputes, first instance: estimated disposition time in days, 2022.

In 2022, the estimated disposition-time indicator for first-instance civil and commercial disputes was:

  • Greece: 746 days
  • Italy: 540 days
  • Spain: 359 days
  • France: 333 days
  • Germany: 241 days
  • Switzerland: 141 days
  • Iceland: 115 days

Why it matters

For businesses, the speed of dispute resolution matters—from recovering unpaid invoices to enforcing contracts.

How to read it

But these figures are not average trial durations. The indicator divides year-end pending cases by cases resolved during the year, then multiplies by 365. It estimates the relationship between backlog and throughput.

About the data

The map covers 35 countries using consistent 2022 observations. Case mix, procedures and reporting differ; criminal cases, administrative cases and appeals are excluded.

Explore the figures

The data behind the infographic above. Sort, filter or select a row for details.

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Days:<150150–249250–364365–499500+

Show groups – EU-27: the 27 member states listed in this site’s “Who pays into the EU?” table (that post: “The chart covers today’s EU-27”).

Estimated disposition time for first-instance civil and commercial disputes, 2022 (days).

CountryDisposition timedays
Greece746
Italy540
Bosnia & Herz.518
Malta491
Montenegro417
Croatia410
Türkiye397
Albania377
Monaco375
Poland362
Spain359
Slovenia337
France333
Finland327
N. Macedonia312
Serbia299
Denmark268
Germany241
Portugal238
Andorra212
Latvia209
Luxembourg182
Norway176
Moldova171
Slovakia168
Ukraine168
Romania160
Estonia158
Sweden152
Austria142
Switzerland141
Czechia134
Hungary134
Lithuania116
Iceland115

Pending cases ÷ resolved cases × 365: an estimate of backlog and throughput, not average trial duration.

Countries in this post

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