Enforcing Contracts

This topic looks at the efficiency of contract enforcement by following the evolution of a sale of goods dispute and tracking the time, cost, and number of procedures involved from the moment the plaintiff files the lawsuit until actual payment.

The table below shows the three main indicators for enforcing contracts. They are:

number of procedures from the moment the plaintiff files a lawsuit in court until the moment of payment,
time in calendar days to resolve the dispute, and
cost in court fees and attorney fees, where the use of attorneys is mandatory or common, expressed as a percentage of the debt value.

To see the details for a specific economy, use the dropdown box on the right or click on the links below. Click on column headers to sort data.

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Courts (PDF, 691KB), by Simeon Djankov and others, Quarterly Journal of Economics, May 2003.

Region or Economy	Procedures (number)	Time (days)	Cost (% of claim)
OECD	30.6	462.4	19.2
Eastern Europe & Central Asia	37.1	450.9	25.6
East Asia & Pacific	37.2	538.1	48.5
Sub-Saharan Africa	39.2	643.9	49.3
Latin America & Caribbean	39.7	707.0	31.3
Middle East & North Africa	43.4	679.9	23.7
South Asia	43.5	1,052.9	27.2
Ireland	20	515	26.9
Singapore	21	150	25.8
Hong Kong, China	24	280	19.5
Rwanda	24	260	78.7
Austria	25	397	18.0
Belgium	25	505	16.6
Netherlands	25	514	24.4
Iceland	26	417	6.2
Luxembourg	26	321	9.7
Czech Republic	27	611	33.0
Latvia	27	309	23.1
Australia	28	395	20.7
Belarus	28	225	23.4
Botswana	29	687	28.0
France	29	331	17.4
Venezuela, R.B.	29	510	43.7
El Salvador	30	786	19.2
Germany	30	394	14.4
Japan	30	360	22.7
Lithuania	30	275	23.6
Malaysia	30	585	27.5
Mozambique	30	730	142.5
New Zealand	30	216	22.4
Slovak Republic	30	565	30.0
South Africa	30	600	33.2
Sweden	30	508	31.2
Ukraine	30	345	41.5
United Kingdom	30	399	23.4
Vanuatu	30	430	74.7
Guatemala	31	1,459	26.5
Moldova	31	365	20.9
Panama	31	686	50.0
Portugal	31	547	13.0
Romania	31	512	28.9
Switzerland	31	417	24.0
Finland	32	375	10.4
Gambia, the	32	434	37.9
Kiribati	32	660	25.8
Mongolia	32	314	30.6
Slovenia	32	1,290	12.7
United States	32	300	14.4
Côte d'Ivoire	33	770	41.7
Hungary	33	395	13.0
Namibia	33	270	35.8
Norway	33	280	9.9
China	34	406	11.1
Colombia	34	1,346	52.6
Denmark	34	380	23.3
Dominican Republic	34	460	40.9
Fiji	34	397	38.9
Micronesia, Fed. Sts.	34	965	66.0
Tajikistan	34	430	25.5
Vietnam	34	295	28.5
Haiti	35	508	42.6
Israel	35	890	25.3
Jamaica	35	655	45.6
Korea, Rep.	35	230	10.3
Nicaragua	35	540	26.8
Thailand	35	479	12.3
Turkey	35	420	18.8
Zambia	35	471	38.7
Argentina	36	590	16.5
Canada	36	570	22.3
Chile	36	480	28.6
Estonia	36	425	26.3
Georgia	36	285	29.9
Ghana	36	487	23.0
Guyana	36	581	25.2
Mali	36	626	52.0
Marshall Islands	36	476	27.4
Mauritius	36	720	17.4
Serbia	36	635	28.9
Yemen, Rep.	36	520	16.5
Burkina Faso	37	446	83.0
Cape Verde	37	425	21.8
Ethiopia	37	620	15.2
Lebanon	37	721	30.8
Macedonia, FYR	37	370	33.1
Philippines	37	842	26.0
Russian Federation	37	281	13.4
Solomon Islands	37	455	78.9
Tonga	37	350	30.5
Bosnia and Herzegovina	38	595	38.4
Croatia	38	561	13.8
Gabon	38	1,070	34.3
Jordan	38	689	31.2
Kazakhstan	38	390	22.0
Madagascar	38	871	42.4
Mexico	38	415	32.0
Palau	38	885	35.3
Paraguay	38	591	30.0
Poland	38	830	12.0
Seychelles	38	720	14.3
Tanzania	38	462	14.3
Uganda	38	510	44.9
Zimbabwe	38	410	32.0
Albania	39	390	38.7
Azerbaijan	39	237	18.5
Bulgaria	39	564	23.8
Ecuador	39	588	27.2
Eritrea	39	405	22.6
Greece	39	819	14.4
Indonesia	39	570	122.7
Iran, Islamic Rep.	39	520	17.0
Kyrgyz Republic	39	260	29.0
Nepal	39	735	26.8
Niger	39	545	59.6
Nigeria	39	457	32.0
Puerto Rico	39	620	24.3
Spain	39	515	17.2
Tunisia	39	565	21.8
Bolivia	40	591	33.2
Costa Rica	40	852	24.3
Djibouti	40	1,225	34.0
Equatorial Guinea	40	553	18.5
Italy	40	1,210	29.9
Kenya	40	465	47.2
Morocco	40	615	25.2
Sierra Leone	40	515	149.5
Sri Lanka	40	1,318	22.8
Swaziland	40	972	23.1
Uruguay	40	720	19.0
Bangladesh	41	1,442	63.3
Chad	41	743	77.4
Egypt, Arab Rep.	41	1,010	26.2
Guinea-Bissau	41	1,140	25.0
Lesotho	41	695	19.5
Liberia	41	1,280	35.0
Maldives	41	665	16.5
Peru	41	428	35.7
Togo	41	588	47.5
Benin	42	825	64.7
Lao PDR	42	443	31.6
Malawi	42	432	142.4
Papua New Guinea	42	591	110.3
Trinidad and Tobago	42	1,340	33.5
Uzbekistan	42	195	22.2
Cameroon	43	800	46.6
Central African Republic	43	660	82.0
Comoros	43	506	89.4
Congo, Dem. Rep.	43	625	151.8
Cyprus	43	735	16.4
Qatar	43	570	21.6
São Tomé and Principe	43	1,185	50.5
Saudi Arabia	43	635	27.5
Burundi	44	832	38.6
Cambodia	44	401	102.7
Congo, Rep.	44	560	53.2
Samoa	44	455	19.7
Senegal	44	780	26.5
Suriname	44	1,715	37.1
West Bank and Gaza	44	600	21.2
Antigua and Barbuda	45	351	22.7
Brazil	45	616	16.5
Honduras	45	900	35.2
St. Vincent and the Grenadines	45	394	30.3
Algeria	46	630	21.9
Angola	46	1,011	44.4
India	46	1,420	39.6
Mauritania	46	370	23.2
Afghanistan	47	1,642	25.0
Bhutan	47	225	0.1
Dominica	47	681	36.0
Grenada	47	688	32.6
Pakistan	47	976	23.8
St. Kitts and Nevis	47	578	20.5
St. Lucia	47	635	37.3
Taiwan, China	47	510	17.7
Armenia	48	285	19.0
Bahrain	48	635	14.7
Bahamas, the	49	427	28.9
Montenegro	49	545	25.7
United Arab Emirates	49	537	26.2
Guinea	50	276	45.0
Kuwait	50	566	18.8
Belize	51	892	27.5
Iraq	51	520	27.3
Oman	51	598	13.5
Timor-Leste	51	1,435	163.2
Kosovo	53	420	61.2
Sudan	53	810	19.8
Syrian Arab Republic	55	872	29.3
Brunei Darussalam	58	540	36.6

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Enforcing Contracts

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