Bringing together an international array of legal scholars, this discerning Research Handbook provides a comparative analysis of civil procedure law. Chapters examine the rules that dictate how a civil dispute is initiated, processed, decided and enforced in a court of law, comparing each aspect of the procedure across continents including Asia, Europe and the Americas. The Research Handbook delves into the fundamental principles of civil procedure, access to evidence and the psychology of procedural justice, drawing on in-depth and contextualized studies from the Global North and South. Adopting a forward-thinking approach, the contributing authors look to the future of civil dispute resolution, discussing potential developments in processes such as the digitization of judicial procedure and deciding lawsuits outside of courts. Presenting invaluable new perspectives on civil procedure law, this comprehensive Research Handbook is an essential read for scholars and practitioners in international practice and transnational litigation. It will also benefit students and researchers interested in dispute resolution, comparative politics and sociology.

Table of Contents:
Contents Introduction – comparative civil procedure: power, authority and culture in dispute resolution 1 Margaret Y.K. Woo and Cornelis Hendrik van Rhee PART I COMPARATIVE LAW AND FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES 1 Comparative studies of civil procedures 18 Alan Uzelac 2 History of civil procedure 40 Cornelis Hendrik van Rhee 3 Principles of civil procedure 63 John Sorabji and (Hector) Zhixun Cao 4 Justice concerns in the management of civil disputes 91 Tom R. Tyler 5 Challenges to access to civil justice in Europe 107 Xandra Kramer, Carlota Ucín and Adriani Dori PART II BEGINNING OF LAWSUIT 6 Judicial jurisdiction and competence 134 Scott Dodson and Sebastian Spinei 7 The politics of pleadings 168 Margaret Y.K. Woo 8 The initiation of civil suits – a comparative perspective 187 Mohamed Paleker 9 Why civil procedure matters: how jurisdiction and forum selection impact the liability of multinational corporations to marginalized people in the Global South 223 Lucy Williams PART III MANAGING THE LAWSUIT 10 Managing the lawyers 244 Richard Marcus 11 Judicial case management: iura novit curia? 261 Emmanuel Jeuland 12 Access to evidence in the US, Germany, and Norway 278 Magne Strandberg 13 Joinder of parties and group litigation 302 Linda S. Mullenix and Stefaan Voet PART IV DECIDING THE LAWSUIT 14 The landscape of lay decision-making in civil litigation 356 Valerie P. Hans 15 Finality of judgments and its effects 378 Elisabetta Silvestri 16 The law of preclusion in China and Japan 384 Yulin Fu 17 Comparative enforcement law 394 Wendy Kennett PART V FUTURE TRENDS 18 Digitization of judicial procedure: AI, ODR, blockchain and e-justice 418 Peter C.H. Chan and Antonio Cabral 19 Cross-border disputes: arbitration, courts, and ‘arbitral courts’ 445 Pamela K. Bookman 20 Untimely concordance: the discreet convergence of civil and arbitral proceedings 470 Marco de Benito 21 Deciding lawsuits outside of court: mediation in Hong Kong 501 Shahla Ali