The author moves from the assumption that the civil law and the common law models of procedure are less at odds today than they are still often being described. No matter the differences which may have characterized them in their formative periods – chiefly originated in the presence of the jury in the common law model of procedure --, they both share the same fundamental values, attribute the same purpose to civil procedure (i.e., the efficient and just dispatch of private disputes), and both stick to a private conception of procedure, based on the principle of party disposition in its various facets.The author proceeds then at identifying the emerging common principles of civil law and common law models, especially in the light of reforms which have been enacted in the last few years in so many European and non-European countries. Particular emphasis is placed on England, where a real revolution has recently taken place in the name of “Access to Justice”.The author concludes his paper by referring to the Italian situation, which is characterized by a dramatic crisis of efficiency of the administration of justice. Some reform measures enacted in the 90s have not succeeded in curing it; at the same time, Italy doesn’t seem to follow sofar the indications which come from reform trends in other legal systems, centered on the strengthening of the powers of the judge, the preparatory stage, the collaboration of the parties, and the reform of review by courts of last resort.