CEPEJ(2014)5

“The Crystal Scales of Justice” Prize

The European prize for innovative practice

contributing to the efficiency and quality of civil justice

2014 Edition

Follow-up to the Crystal Scales of Justice for the initiative:

An accelerated familial procedure, Family affairs courts and Bar, Berlin, Germany

The special mention in the 2014 edition of the Crystal Scales of Justice Prize was useful in a series of contacts and the implementation of the Accelerated Family Proceedings in Berlin and in other parts of Germany. First of all the special mention led to a joint press release by the Ministry of Justice and the Bar of Berlin on October 17^th, 2014, which is published on the website of the project “Das Beschleunigte Familienverfahren” (http://www.berlin.de/sen/justiz/gerichte/ag/pw/beschleunigtes_familienverfahren.html).

The project itself was able to promote its scheme quite effectively by the appreciation it received on a European level.

In February 2015 the 6^th federal conference on interdisciplinary cooperation took place in Stuttgart/Baden-Württemberg. The 400 participants were informed of the acknowledgements by the special mention and the prize itself. Since about 2005 systems of interdisciplinary cooperation in family proceedings have been built up all over Germany. In July 2014 the Baden-Württemberg project “Elternkonsens” (parents’ consensus) has launched a special website for professionals, parents and children (http://www.elternkonsens.de). This website offers useful information on court proceedings, established interdisciplinary working teams and possibilities to contact them. Information on the aims of the project is provided in 9 languages. During the federal conference in February, the Berlin-Pankow working team introduced itself as an example for the successful implementation of interdisciplinary cooperation in a metropolitan area as part of the Berlin Accelerated Family Proceedings.

In March 2015 representatives of the Berlin initiative are invited to an exchange between the Bars of Berlin and Paris, to introduce the project to French judges and family lawyers.