Last update: 12 October 2014

14.30 – 14.45 : Opening of the ceremony

Moderator: John Stacey, President of the European Commission for the efficiency of justice (CEPEJ), Council of Europe

The Moderator John Stacey announces the opening of the Award Ceremony of the Crystal Scales of Justice.

State Secretary of Justice, Mr António Costa Moura

Dear member of the Jury,

Dear representatives of the judicial institutions that have been short-listed for this competition,

Dear members of the Portuguese Solicitadores Chamber

First of all, I want to thank the Portuguese Solicitadores Chamber to allow us to participate in this Conference during which the Crystal Scales of Justice Prize will be delivered.

The Secretariat of the CEPEJ received a huge number of applications for this important Prize which is awarded every year to the most innovative practice in the field of justice created and tested by professionals who know concretely how to improve efficiency and quality of the functioning of the justice system.

Many of the previous awarded initiatives have shown interesting developments: listed in compendium of best practices, studied by policy makers to see to what extent they can be used on a national level or studied by various delegations from European States or just being an inspiration to others.

The 2014 CEPEJ evaluation report on the functioning of European justice systems which was published on 9^th October in Paris, contains core references which can promote the improving of the functioning of European justice systems, and is a tool for analysing efficiency of each of the Council of Europe’s member States.

These are the first steps fort the drawing up of new procedures to melt new needs, new tendencies and to keep up with new technologies, new trends and adapt procedures accordingly.

I take this opportunity to express once again my warm thanks and congratulations to each representative of each application that have been invited to participate in this ceremony for their engagement.

I would also like to deeply thank all the eminent European lawyers who agreed to take part in the Jury: they represent different judicial systems and different judicial functions, but they are all committed to our common European principles and values. The jury members worked hard, on a voluntary basis to judge the entries, with the only view to participate actively in the improvement of the daily functioning of the justice systems in the Council of Europe members States.

I would also like to take this opportunity to invite the representatives of the Portuguese Solicitadores Chamber to participate to the World Conference on Execution in Strasbourg on 10 December 2014, jointly organised by the European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice, which I represent here today and the International Union of Judicial Officers.

Before breaking the suspense, we will listen to Mr Yannick Meneceur, representative of the CEPEJ Secretariat in Strasbourg who will give a short presentation of the history until present and this 7^th edition of the Prize awarding ceremony, and then to the jury member Bettina Coen, from the Court of Fribourg (Germany) who will speak in the name of all the jury members of the Crystal Scales of Justice, to explain which have been the key elements that have been taken into account by the jury members to make their choice.

After her intervention, the representatives of the selected initiatives which are present here in Aveiro today will give a short presentation of their projects.

In a few minutes we will know who is the 2014 winner of the Crystal Scales of Justice. This is always a specific moment, which, I hope, will leave you all with a lasting memory.

Thank you