This study deals in a succinct way with the Brazilian model of civil procedural law. There is an historical approach specifically about Portuguese law which was in force in Brazil at the beginning (until 1832), after what there comes a brief description of the judiciary structure (courts and judges) and only then we talk about the scope of civil procedure, its fundamental principles and, in a “law in practice” approach, access to justice. The role of a judge towards deciding “according to statutes and evidence” is analysed and the current importance of case law is deeply focused, mainly according to the new CPC (in force since 2015) and so are appellate proceedings, class actions, enforcement proceedings and ADR. The last items concern the role and the importance of academia, and some interesting cultural observations, where we deal with the very serious crisis, both ethical and economic, that Brazil is living now, in the political sphere. The judiciary branch is now our only hope.

Contemporary Russian civil procedure is not a pure Continental model because it also has procedural features of the common law system, as well as some other original and exceptional features. This article examines the main aspects of Russian civil justice: its main principles; judicial organization, including the structure of the courts and the division between courts of general jurisdiction and arbitrazh (commercial) courts, and the Intellectual Property Court; sources of procedural law; bar organization; the jurisdiction of the courts; actions and proceedings; legal costs; evidence; administrative procedure; class actions; enforcement proceedings; and arbitration and mediation.

In India the concept of civil justice is not new. It has existed since time immemorial. A large number of related provisions are found in Manu, who compiled the then existing justice system in India of thousands of years ago in his fourteen-volume work titled Manava Dharma Shastra. The concept of justice is also found in detail in the Vedas, which are from avery ancient time. In both these scriptures the rule of law was adequately provided. Today, however, the Indian civil justice system resembles its common law counterparts. It features a coordinated, pyramid structure of judicial authority, emphasizing formal procedural justice dominated by litigants of equal status engaged in adversarial processes, and provides binding, win-lose remedies.

This article presents a basic and comprehensive introduction of Chinese civil justice. It gives a complete picture of Chinese civil justice, including the brief history, the court and judge system, the outline of the procedure, and the internationalization. Through the introduction, one can find that Chinese civil procedure law is a mixture of Soviet procedural concept, Chinese local culture, and western procedural concept and rules. It is still a developing procedure and experiences a process from resisting western procedural concept to gradually accepting and learning from it. It used to be a supra-inquisitorial trial model with overwhelming focus on conciliation, but is now transforming to aparty disposition trial model with preference to conciliation under the premise of voluntariness.
With the globalization of economy, the international cooperation of China, especially with the BRICS countries, will also become more and more important.

The South African adversarial system of civil procedure in the High Court owes its origin to that of England. As with all civil procedural systems, the South African system is not stagnant. Its primary sources, namely Acts of Parliament and rules of court, are constantly amended in an attempt to meet the changing needs of society. Court delay and costinefficient procedural mechanisms, however, contribute to public dismay. The High Court, in the exercise of its inherent power to regulate its process, do so with the purpose of enhancing access to justice. The advantage of the system lies in the fact that it is not cast in stone but could, subject to the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996, be developed to make it more accessible to the public whilst protecting the public’s fundamental rights entrenched in the Constitution and, in this regard, particularly the right to afair trial embedded in sec. 34 of the Constitution. This contribution gives an overview of the system with reference to the court structure, the judiciary, the process in the High Court and its underlying principles, appeals, class actions and alternative civil dispute resolution mechanisms.