CCJE-BU(2018)5
Strasbourg, 7 May 2018
BUREAU OF THE CONSULTATIVE COUNCIL
OF EUROPEAN JUDGES
(CCJE-BU)
Report of the 24th meeting
Strasbourg, 21 March 2018
Document prepared by the Secretariat
Directorate General I – Human Rights and Rule of Law
I. INTRODUCTION
1. The Bureau of the Consultative Council of European Judges (CCJE-BU) held its 24th meeting in Strasbourg on 21 March 2018. The meeting was chaired by Mr Duro SESSA (Croatia), President of the CCJE.
2. The following members of the Bureau were present:
· Ms Nina BETETTO (Slovenia), Vice-President of the CCJE;
· Mr George BIRMINGHAM (Ireland);
· Mr Mats MELIN (Sweden).
3. The agenda is set out in Appendix I.
II. COMMUNICATION BY THE PRESIDENT, MEMBERS OF THE BUREAU AND THE SECRETARIAT
4. The President briefed the members of the Bureau on the deteriorating situation concerning judges in Serbia. He was recently approached by the Judges Association of Serbia which claimed that the proposed amendments to the Constitution of Serbia would have negative impact on the organisation of judicial power and its independence. The President was requested by the Judges Association to invite the CCJE to look into this situation, and the formal request would be forwarded soon.
5. The Bureau discussed in this regard the cooperation with the Venice Commission which would have to render its opinion since these would be changes in the Constitution. It was decided to coordinate the Bureau’s response to the request of the Judges Association of Serbia with the Venice Commission, and in particular to organise a meeting of the CCJE President with the President of the Venice Commission to discuss the modalities and possible participation in the session of the Venice Commission where the opinion on these Constitutional amendments would be adopted.
6. The Bureau decided to start elaboration of its opinion as soon as the formal request is received, together with the final text of the proposed amendments, and once the opinion is adopted, to share it with the Venice Commission and publish on the CCJE website.
7. The President also informed the members of the Bureau about his recent participation in the workshop organised by the European Network of Councils for the Judiciary (ENCJ) within the framework of its project on “Independence, Accountability and Quality of Justice” on 14 March 2018 in Brussels. The aim of the workshop was to share the contents of this project and to assess the methodology and indicators used by the ENCJ to measure the independence and accountability of judicial systems in the EU member States. The workshop also focused on increasing cooperation and creating synergies to strengthen the independence and accountability of the judicial systems in Europe. The President presented the CCJE standards in this area and activities including the CCJE’s Opinions and the recent report of the CCJE Bureau on judicial independence and impartiality in the Council of Europe member States in 2017.
8. The Bureau discussed the process of collecting responses to the questionnaire for gender equality. After the Secretariat sent the reminder to the member States, in total 32 responses were received. The Bureau thanked the Secretariat for preparing the compilation of all responses. It was decided to contact the Council of Europe’s Gender Equality Unit and to send the compilation for their attention, and to coordinate further actions with them.
9. The members of the Bureau and the Secretariat discussed the organisation of the forthcoming plenary meeting of the CCJE on 7-9 November 2018 in Zagreb, within the framework of the Croatian Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe. The Bureau expressed its appreciation to the President[1] for making this initiative. The President informed that the meeting of the CCJE Bureau in Zagreb would take place in the premises of the Supreme Court of Croatia, followed by the plenary meeting in the plenary hall of the City Council in Zagreb.
III. PREPARATION OF THE CCJE OPINION NO. 21 ON JUDICIAL INTEGRITY – PREVENTING AND FIGHTING CORRUPTION IN THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM
10. The Bureau discussed the analysis of responses to the questionnaire for the preparation of the Opinion No. 21, prepared by the CCJE expert, Dr Rainer HORNUNG[2] (document CCJE(2018)2Prov2), as well as the draft structure for the Opinion, prepared by the Secretariat and revised by the Bureau (document CCJE-BU(2018)2Prov1), and praised both documents as a good basis and starting point for discussions and elaboration of the Opinion during the forthcoming Working Group meeting (21-23 March 2018, Strasbourg).
11. The Bureau briefly discussed the modalities of the preparation of the Opinion and co-ordination with the expert. The Bureau decided to leave the title open for discussion by the Working Group, however the Bureau’s position would be to speak specifically about preventing corruption among judges, since talking about corruption in the judicial system would relate also to other professional groups, whereas the intent of the CCJE last plenary meeting was to focus on preventing the corruption among judges.
12. The following points were also agreed upon by the Bureau: the text of the Opinion should not be repressive in the sense that it should not in any way open a door for interpretations restricting the independence of judges, and the fight against corruption should not be misused to limit the independence; the recommendations of the Council of Europe’s Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) Fourth Evaluation Round should be taken into account; the culture of integrity should be developed; the ENCJ Survey on the Independence of Judges 2016/2017 should be used; the role of judges to foster the integrity, and also to help the colleagues should be underlined, and there should be mechanisms and procedures in cases in absence of integrity. It would be important to emphasise that first and foremost it is the responsibility of judges themselves to foster the integrity. The members of the Bureau also discussed the psychological tests applied in various countries and how they can infringe on judicial independence.
IV. OTHER ITEMS
13. The Bureau expressed its appreciation for the invitation of the Supreme Court of Justice of Portugal and its generous support for the forthcoming meetings of the Bureau and Working Group in Porto, and discussed the modalities of these meetings on 13-15 June 2018, as well as other events planned within this framework by the Supreme Court of Justice of Portugal.
APPENDIX I
AGENDA / ORDRE DU JOUR
1. Opening of the meeting / Ouverture de la réunion
2. Adoption of the agenda / Adoption de l’ordre du jour
3. Communication by the President, members of the Bureau and the Secretariat / Communication du Président, des membres du Bureau et du Secrétariat
4. Preparation of the 34th meeting of the CCJE-GT and the draft Opinion No. 21 on « judicial integrity – preventing and fighting corruption in the judicial system » / Préparation de la 34ème réunion du CCJE-GT et du projet de l’Avis No. 21 sur « l’intégrité judiciaire - prévenir et combattre la corruption dans le système judiciaire »
5. Follow-up to the report of the CCJE’s Bureau on the situation of judges in the member States / Suivi du rapport du Bureau du CCJE sur la situation des juges dans les Etats membres
6. Other work of the CCJE / Autres travaux du CCJE
7. Any other business / Divers