Last update: 13 October 2014

14.55 – 15.05 : Motivation of the jury members

Speaker: Bettina Coen, Judge at the Court of Fribourg (Germany) and jury member of the 2014 edition of the Crystal Scales of Justice

State Secretary of Justice, Mr António Costa Moura

Dear President of the CEPEJ,

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

Dear members of the Portuguese Solicitadores Chamber

I will speak today in the name of all the jury members who participated in the examination of all the applications which led to the final selection of the initiatives.

First of all, I would like to emphasise the fact that it has been particularly difficult for us, jury members, during our meeting in Paris on 19 September 2014 to take a decision, because the level of innovation, the professionalism through which the initiatives have been implemented and thus, the measurable improvements of the functioning of justice, has been very high.

The jury members in their vote particularly took into account:

-       The respect of the main values of the Council of Europe, in particular the capacity to improve the quality and efficiency of the public service of justice.

-       The possibility for an initiative to be shared and implemented it in other European countries; in terms of legislation, costs and procedures. It is important that the initiative reflects a common sense of practice and is easy to use. It should also be accessible in terms of costs and should not lead to a rise of the costs borne by a government, an institution or citizens for the functioning of or the access to justice.

-       The notion of service rendered and the targeted persons for whom the initiative has facilitated procedures. The initiative should not only take into account the interest of those who implement it; the notion of service should be kept in mind ;

-       The magnitude of support of public authorities. The support of international institutions or other governments reflect the spread of recognition as a good practice of the initiative.

-       The measurable impact in terms of efficiency. A comparison of the situation before the implementation of the initiative and after its implementation should clearly demonstrate the improvements that have been reached ;

-       The aspect of co-operation and interaction of different entities and targets which are engaged in and concerned by the initiative is also an important element; it is a sign of good communication between the entities leading to the sharing of knowledge which is one of the key elements for success.

In particular, for the 4 selected initiatives out of the 20 applications, the jury appreciated:

-       For the initiative introduced by the Family affairs courts and Bar of Berlin, (Germany), an original and adapted approach of the way family litigations are handled by privileging the dialog and pacification in the children’s interest

-       For the initiative introduced by the General Council of Spanish Bars, the use of technologies to improve access to justice for citizens

-       for the initiative introduced by the Ministry of Justice of Estonia; the concrete and measurable reduction of judicial timeframes thanks to the implementation of an integrated computerised management system

-       for the initiative introduced by the Amsterdam Court of Appeal (Netherlands), the adapted use of internet and of social networks to promote European caselaw. .

I would like to say that it has been a very interesting experience participating in the selection of initiatives in the framework of the Crystal Scales of Justice.