in certain bourgeois countries—for example, in France, Belgium, Austria, and Switzerland (certain cantons)—a judicial institution with special jurisdiction. For the most part, commercial courts settle disputes over commercial transactions. In other countries, commercial disputes are settled either by special divisions of the civil courts or by judges who specialize in the consideration of such disputes.

Commercial courts originated during the period of feudalism in response to the desire of influential commercial groups for legal autonomy. They persist in countries with a dual system of private law, that is, countries in which civil and commercial law are separate and distinct from each other.