Revista da EMERJ - V. 21 - N. 3 - Setembro/Dezembro - 2019 - Tomo 1

 R. EMERJ, Rio de Janeiro, v. 21, n. 3, t. 1, p. 72-86, set.-dez., 2019  82 TOMO 1 last ten years. Since 2005, new statutory provisions have entered into force almost continuously, which tracks the cycle of the annual or biennial reports of the ranking institutions. Moreover, it is the entering into force of the statutes that counts, and not its effective implementation, because the former can be better reckoned in statistics than the latter. Mediation and arbitration are promoted instead of adjudication, because ADR is a cheaper means of dispute resolution than judicial proceedings. Finally, grounds of judicial appeal are narrowed, as the delays they generate are not in tune with the theoretical model of an ideal court that eases business, whereby a dispute “can be resolved by a third on fairness grounds, with little knowledge or use of law, no lawyers, no written submissions, no procedural constraints on how evidence, witnesses, and arguments are presented, and no appeal” 35 . G. If I had the occasion to analyze the causes of the inefficiency of Italian civil justice system, I could easily show that the complexity and distinctive features of each national judicial system cannot be captured by the use of quantitative indicators. By way of example, according to the EU Justice Scoreboard, “the efficiency of a judicial system should already be reflected at first instance, as the first instance is an obligatory step for everyone going to court”. However, today, ordinary proceedings are no longer the key instrument for ensuring judicial protection of rights in Italy. In fact, over the last few decades, they are becoming less and less important, even residual, to that end. In order to take a correct view of the real states of affairs in Italy, 36 one should take into consideration a large number of “special” proceedings, which normally enable claimants to get effective and efficient judicial protection of rights in a wide range of situations. As of 2013, the number of cases brought into the courts by way of special proceedings 35 Djankov/La Porta/Lopez-de-Silanes/Schleifer , op. cit. (Fn. 31), 455. 36 Cf. for an inquiry into the causes of Italian civil justice system’s inefficiency, s. Caponi , European Minimum Standards for Courts. Independence, Specialization, Efficiency. Glance from Italy, Paper presented at the conference “Europäische Mindeststandards für Spruchkörper”, organised by Althammer, University of Regensburg Law School, and Weller, EBS Law School, at the University of Regensburg on 12–13 November 2015, in Althammer/Weller (Hg.), Europäische Mindeststandards für Spruchkörper, 2017, 139–164.