As it becomes clear from the contributions to this volume, delay in civil litigation is a central issue in the Western legal tradition. It cannot be avoided since justice cannot be done without a proper investigation of the case at issue and this takes time. Justice and procedural delay are therefore virtually synonymous. However, even though delay is unavoidable, it becomes problematic when it can be qualified as »undue«. [] the present volume contains a fascinating collection of causes of due and undue delay in civil litigation [] as well as measures to reduce the time needed to arrive at a final decision of the case. Therefore, this collection of essays may not only be worthwhile for the historically interested lawyer, but most likely also for those with an interest in the improvement of the procedural systems of our modern world.

Inhalt
Inhalt: C. H. van Rhee, Introduction - I. Middle Ages: M. Ascheri, Between Statutory Law and Learned Law: Delay in the Early History of the Medieval Italian Communes (and Beyond) - P. Brand, 'To None Will We Sell, to None Will We Deny or Delay Right or Justice': Expedition and Delay in Civil Proceedings in the English Medieval Royal Courts - R. H. Helmholz, Due and Undue Delay in the English Ecclesiastical Courts (ca. 1300-1600) - K. W. Nörr, Verzögert oder beschleunigt: das Beispiel des römisch-kanonischen Prozessrechts - II. Early Modern Period: A. M. J. A. Berkvens, The Reform of Civil Procedure in the Rhine-Prussian Provinces: The Example of Prussian Gueldres 1713-1786 - J. Finlay, The History of Delay in Civil Procedure at the Scottish Court of Session (1600-1830) - A. M. Godfrey, Procedural Delay, Appeal and Advocation in the Court of Session in Sixteenth-Century Scotland - III. 19th and 20th Centuries: J. Blackie, Delay and Its Control in Mid to Late Nineteenth Century Scottish Civil Procedure - W. H. Bryson, The Code of Virginia of 1849 - S. Fockedey, Reducing Undue Delay in Nineteenth Century Belgium: a Sisyphean Task - T. P. Gallanis, Victorian Reform of Civil Litigation in the Superior Courts of Common Law - P. Oberhammer / T. Domej, Delay in Austrian Civil Procedure and the Legislator's Response - D. Tamm / A. Højer Schjøler, The Way to the 1916 Reform of Danish Procedural Law - S. Waddams, Clergy Discipline in the Church of England, 1830-1892 - A. Wijffels, Undue Delay and the French Code of Civil Procedure (1806)