The ENCJ in co-operation with the University of Utrecht undertook a pilot study to explore the role of the judiciary in the economy and the need to improve the performance of the judiciary from this perspective in Europe. The focuses on the volume of cases, their duration and the use of appeal. The countries studied are Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, the Netherlands and Norway. These countries were selected to represent different judicial systems, but also the limited availability of data from case registration systems of the courts had to be taken into account. Whilst the study was confined to five countries, it is of wider relevance as the selected countries come from different traditions, and other countries that belong to these traditions can learn from the outcomes.The most comprehensive comparison is possible for commercial cases with financial claims of EUR 1 million and higher.