Doing Business measures the time and cost for resolving a commercial dispute through a local first-instance court and the quality of judicial processes index, evaluating whether each economy has adopted a series of good practices that promote quality and efficiency in the court system. The data are collected through study of the codes of civil procedure and other court regulations as well as questionnaires completed by local litigation lawyers and judges. The ranking of economies on the ease of enforcing contracts is determined by sorting their scores for enforcing contracts. These scores are the simple average of the scores for each of the component indicators.
Efficiency of resolving a commercial dispute
The data on time and cost are built by following the step-by-step evolution of a commercial sale dispute.
Time is recorded in calendar days, counted from the moment Seller decides to file the lawsuit in court until payment. This includes both the days when actions take place and the waiting periods in between. The average duration of the following three different stages of dispute resolution is recorded: (i) filing and service; (ii) trial and judgment; and (iii) enforcement.
Cost is recorded as a percentage of the claim value, assumed to be equivalent to 200% of income per capita or $5,000, whichever is greater. Three types of costs are recorded: average attorney fees, court costs and enforcement costs.
Quality of judicial processes
The quality of judicial processes index measures whether each economy has adopted a series of good practices in its court system in four areas: court structure and proceedings, case management, court automation and alternative dispute resolution.
