The negotiated case-ending settlements that once were described as typical for common-law systems have become increasingly popular in continental systems. They effectively serve the purpose of reducing the workload and therefore the expense of criminal justice. Besides this function, the forms of simplifying and shortening proceedings may differ. In particular, there is no identical concept of the English guilty plea proceedings on the one hand and those proceedings recently introduced into the continental systems on the other hand. The latter (continental systems) do not totally abandon the principle of an inquisitorial trial in favor of a new concept of their procedural law. The main difference between the common-law systems and the continental systems is perpetuated. The subject of this article is a special type of fast-tracked case-ending decision called, negotiated case-ending settlements. Those proceedings are based on a kind of agreement between the parties, end with a real conviction of the offender and their legal consequence is a true but mitigated punishment. They can be found in 6 of the 11 countries studied in this thematic issue and include: England and Wales, Croatia, France, Hungary, Poland, and Spain. The comparative study focused on the stage, where the negotiation was made, the conditions for the use of these settlements, and the court/public prosecution service's role therein. Tables and references