CCJE(2016)5

Strasbourg, 10 November 2016

CONSULTATIVE COUNCIL OF EUROPEAN JUDGES (CCJE)

17th plenary meeting

Strasbourg, 8-10 November 2016

ABRIDGED MEETING REPORT

A.   FOREWORD          

The Consultative Council of European Judges (CCJE) held its 17th plenary meeting in Strasbourg on 8-10 November 2016. It was chaired by Nils ENGSTAD (Norway), President of the CCJE. The agenda and the list of participants are appended.

B.   ITEMS SUBMITTED TO THE COMMITTEE OF MINISTERS FOR DECISION

1.      The CCJE invited the Committee of Ministers:

a.     to take note of Opinion No. 19(2016) “on the role of court presidents";

and to note that this document would be forwarded to the relevant bodies in the member States, which would be encouraged to translate it into appropriate languages if need be, and to the relevant bodies of the Council of Europe in order that they may take account of it in their own work;

b.    to take note of this report as a whole.

C.   LIST OF ITEMS DISCUSSED AND DECISIONS TAKEN BY THE CCJE

The CCJE

2.      adopted its Opinion No. 19(2016) “on the role of court presidents " (CCJE(2016)2), subject to possible amendments on the form by its Bureau, which is entrusted to have any such amendments introduced if needed, in order to ensure consistency between the English and French versions;

decided to submit it to the Committee of Ministers to take note of it; invited the member States to ensure its distribution as far as possible among decision-makers and professionals of justice, including its translation where needed; decided to transmit it also to the CEPEJ, the CCPE and the CDCJ, so that they may take it into account in the course of their work;

3.      took note of the CCJE Activity Report for 2016 (CCJE-BU(2016)8) prepared by the Bureau and welcomed the involvement of its members who had promoted the Opinions and the work of the CCJE in the course of the year within the framework of other fora;  

4.      held a discussion on developments in member States of relevance to the mandate of the CCJE; noted the concern expressed by members and observers as regards the situation of judges in Poland and in Turkey; adopted a statement in respect of Turkey (CCJE(2016)7) and decided to make it public ;

 

5.      welcomed the 2016 Report by the Secretary General of the Council of Europe on the "State of democracy, human rights and the rule of law – a security imperative for Europe"; noted with satisfaction that the Secretary General had requested to "develop the methodology and establish a regular in-house evaluation mechanism on the independence and impartiality of the judiciaries of the Council of Europe member states”, proposed in this connection to issue its Situation Report on an annual basis and to orient it to focus on judicial independence and impartiality, relying on information received from the CCJE members and on the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights, the opinions of the Venice Commission, and the reports of the Human Rights Commissioner and of the Parliamentary Assembly; stressed that these reports would not contain ratings or rankings of member States’ performance and would not constitute a monitoring mechanism;

6.      reiterated its readiness to be directly involved in the implementation of the Council of Europe Plan of Action on strengthening judicial independence and impartiality;

7.      recalled that it was at the disposal of the Committee of Ministers and other bodies of the Council of Europe (particularly the Secretary General and the Parliamentary Assembly) to prepare opinions concerning the specific situation of judges in given member States; to that end, reiterated its invitation to its members to indicate their availability to take part in a pool of experts to be requested to work accordingly;

 

reiterated its invitation to the member Statesto appoint deputy-members to the CCJE – bearing in mind that the Council of Europe will only bear the travel and per diem for one member per delegation as regards the attendance of the meetings;

8.      decided to focus its 2017 Opinion on “The uniform application of the law” and instructed its Bureau and the select group appointed for 2017 to prepare a draft Opinion on this issue to be adopted at its 18th plenary meeting;

decided to focus its 2018 Opinion on the “Integrity and corruption” and to hold in 2017 a Conference on the same topic by way of preparation of this Opinion;

9.      appointed Orlando AFONSO (Portugal), Nina BETETTO (Slovenia), José Francisco COBO SAENZ (Spain), Viktor GORODOVENKO (Ukraine), Bart van LIEROP (Netherlands), Kathrin KLETT (Switzerland), Aida POPA (Romania), Gerhard REISSNER (Austria), Raffaele SABATO (Italy), Vigintas VLŠINSKIS (Lithuania) as members, and Anke EILERS (Germany), Katarzyna GONERA (Poland), Jiří  LNĚNIČKA (Czech Republic) as substitute members to the select group (CCJE-GT) responsible for preparing the 2017 draft Opinion to be submitted to the 18th plenary meeting of the CCJE;  

10.    re-elected Nils ENGSTAD (Norway), as President, and Duro SESSA (Croatia), as Vice-President, for 2017; elected George BIRMINGHAM (Ireland) and Mats MELIN (Sweden) as  Bureau members for 2016 and 2017; warmly thankedNina BETETTO (Slovenia) and Jean-Claude WIWINIUS (Luxembourg) for their commitment to the work of the Bureau;

11.    designated Aneta ARNAUDOVSKA (« the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia ») as the Gender Equality Rapporteur for 2017;

12.    proposed to hold its 18th plenary meeting from 8 to 10 November 2017, preceded on 7 November 2017 by a conference on the topic of “Integrity and corruption”; thanked its members in respect of Romania to hold the 18th plenary meeting of the CCJE in Bucharest;

proposed to hold the 32nd and 33rd meetings of the select group (CCJE-GT) on 8-10 March 2017 and 7-9 June 2017 respectively; thanked the Italian Council of the Judiciary for the invitation to hold a meeting of the select group in Rome;

noted that the decision concerning the venue of the meetings would be taken at a later stage, according to the rules of the Council of Europe.

APPENDIX I

AGENDA

1.    Adoption of the agenda

2.    Information by the President, the CCJE members and the Secretariat

3.    CCJE Opinion No. 19(2016)

 

4.    Follow-up to the report of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe – 2016 on the “State of democracy, human rights and the rule of law - a security imperative for Europe” and to the Joint Report of the Bureaus of the CCJE and CCPE on the “Challenges for judicial independence and impartiality in the member states of the Council of Europe”

5.    Working methods of the CCJE

·         Election of the President and of the Vice-President of the CCJE for 2017

·         Election of two members of the CCJE Bureau for 2017/2018

·         Appointment of the CCJE’s Working Group for 2017

·         Appointment of the CCJE Gender Equality Rapporteur for 2017

6.    Calendar of the CCJE’s and CCJE-GT’s meetings in 2017

7.     Any other business

APPENDIX II

LIST OF PARTICIPANTS

MEMBER STATES / ETATS MEMBRES

ALBANIA/ALBANIE:

Ms Arjana FULLANI, Justice, Supreme Court of Albania, TIRANA

ANDORRA/ANDORRE

Ms Canòlic MINGORANCE CAIRAT, Judge, ANDORRA LA VELLA

ARMENIA/ARMENIE:

Mr Stepan MIKAELYAN, Cour civile d'appel de l'Arménie, YEREVAN

AUSTRIA/AUTRICHE:

Mr Gerhard REISSNER President of the Austrian Association of Judges, President of the District Court of Floridsdorf, VIENNA

AZERBAIJAN/AZERBAIDJAN

Mr Khagani MAMMADOV, Judge, Supreme Court of the Republic of Azerbaijan, BAKU

 (apologized / excusé)

BELGIUM/BELGIQUE:

M. Paul MAFFEI, Président de la Cour de Cassation, Palais de Justice, BRUXELLES

BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA/BOSNIE-HERZEGOVINE:

Ms Meddzida KRESO, Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, SARAJEVO

(apologized / excusé)

BULGARIA/BULGARIE:

Ms Maiia ROUSSEVA, Judge, Supreme Court of Cassation, SOFIA

CROATIA/CROATIE:

Mr Duro SESSA, (Vice-President of the CCJE/Vice-Président du CCJE), Justice of the Supreme Court, ZAGREB

CYPRUS/CHYPRE:

Mr Stelios NATHANAEL, Judge of the Supreme Court, NICOSIA

CZECH REPUBLIC/REPUBLIQUE TCHEQUE:

Mr Jiri LNENICKA, Judge of the High Court in Prague, PRAGUE

DENMARK/DANEMARK:

Ms Linda LAURITSEN, Judge, City Court of Roskilde, ROSKILDE

Ms Lene Pagter KRISTENSEN, Judge of the Supreme Court, COPENHAGEN

ESTONIA/ESTONIE:

Mr Meelis EERIK, Estonian Association of Judges, Chairman, TALLINN

(apologized / excusée)

FINLAND/FINLANDE:

Mr Timo ESKO, President of the Supreme Court, HELSINKI

France:

M. Alain LACABARATS, Président de Chambre, Cour de Cassation, PARIS

GEORGIA/GEORGIE:

Ms Nino BAKAKURI, Supreme Court of Georgia, TBILISI

GERMANY/ALLEMAGNE:

Ms Anke EILERS, Presiding Judge, Court of Appeal, Cologne, KÖLN

GREECE/GRECE:

Mr Charalambos MACHERAS, Judge at the Supreme Court of Greece (Areios Pagos), ATHENS

HUNGARY/HONGRIE:

Ms Ursula VEZEKENYI, Chamber President, Civil Department, Supreme Court, BUDAPEST

ICELAND/ISLANDE:

Mr Helgi I. JONSSON, Supreme Court Judge, The Court House at Arnarhóll, REYKJAVIK

IRELAND/IRLANDE:

Mr George BIRMINGHAM, Judge, Court of Appeal, DUBLIN

(apologized / excusé)

ITALY/ITALIE:

M. Raffaele SABATO, Councillor of the Supreme Court of Cassation, ROME

LATVIA/LETTONIE:

Ms Aija BRANTA, Judge, Constitutional Court of the Republic of Latvia, RIGA

LIECHTENSTEIN:

M. Dietmar BAUR, Juge, Cour de Justice, VADUZ 

LITHUANIA/LITUANIE:

Mr Vigintas VISINSKIS, Juge of the Court of Appeal of the Republic of Lithuania, VILNIUS

Luxembourg:

M. Jean-Claude WIWINIUS, Président de la Cour Supérieure de Justice du Luxembourg et Président de la Cour Constitutionnelle, LUXEMBOURG

Mme Marianne HARLES, Premier Conseiller à la Cour d’appel, Cour Supérieure de Justice, LUXEMBOURG

MALTA/MALTE

Mr Justice Tonio MALLIA,

MONACO:

M. Jérôme FOUGERAS-LAVERGNOLLE, Premier Juge, Président du Tribunal Correctionnel de Monaco, MONACO

MONTENEGRO/MONTENEGRO:

Ms Valentina PAVLICIC, Judge, High Court of Podgorica, PODGORICA

(apologized / excusée)

NETHERLANDS/PAYS-BAS:

Mr Bart VAN LIEROP, Vice-President of the Administrative High Court for Trade and Industry (College van Beroep voor het bedrijfsleven), THE HAGUE

 

Ms Angela KAPTEIN, Senior Judge, Court of Appeal The Hague, THE HAGUE

Mr M.F.M.M. de WERD, Justice, Amsterdam Court of Appeal, AMSTERDAM

NORWAY/NORVEGE:

Mr Nils A. ENGSTAD (President of the CCJE/Président du CCJE), Judge, Hålogaland Court of Appeal, TROMSØ

Ms Ingjerd THUNE, President of Gjøvik District Court and President of the Norwegian Association of Judges

POLAND/POLOGNE:

Ms Katarzyna GONERA, Judge of the Supreme Court (Labour Law, Social Security and Public Affairs Chamber), member of the National Council of the Judiciary of Poland, Office of the National Council of the Judiciary of Poland, International Cooperation Department, WARSAW

PORTUGAL:

M. Orlando AFONSO, Juge à la Cour Suprême, LISBONNE

REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA /REPUBLIC DE MOLDOVA:

Mr. Radu ŢURCANU, Vice President of the district Court of Botanica, CHISINAU

ROMANIA/ROUMANIE:

Mme Rodica Aida POPA, Juge, Docteur en Droit,  Section Criminelle de la Haute Cour de Cassation et de Justice, BUCAREST

THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION/FÉDÉRATION DE RUSSIE

Mr Viktor MOMOTOV, Justice of the Supreme Court, MOSCOW

(apologized / excusé)

SERBIA/SERBIE:

Ms Spomenka ZARIĆ, Judge of the Supreme Court of Cassation, BELGRADE

(apologized / excusée)

SLOVAKIA/SLOVAQUIE:

Ms Alena POLÁČKOVÁ, Judge of the Supreme Court, BRATISLAVA

(apologized / excusée)

SLOVENIA/SLOVENIE:

Ms. Nina BETETTO, Judge, Vice-President of the Supreme Court,LJUBLJANA

SPAIN/ESPAGNE:

M. José Francisco COBO SÀENZ, Magistrat, President of the 2nd Section at the Audiencia Provincial (Navarra), PAMPLONA

 

SWEDEN/SUEDE:

Mr Mats MELIN, President of the Swedish Supreme Administrative Court, STOCKHOLM

Ms Eva WENDEL ROSBERG, Chief Judge, Malmö District Court, MALMÖ

SWITZERLAND/SUISSE :

Ms Kathrin KLETT, Juge fédéral, 1ère Cour de Droit Civil, LAUSANNE

“THE FORMER YUGOSLAV REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA”/“L’EX-REPUBLIQUE

YOUGOSLAVE DE MACEDOINE”:

Ms Aneta ARNAUDOVSKA, Judge, Director of the Academy of Judges and Prosecutors, SKOPJE

TURKEY/TURQUIE:

Mr Mehmet YILMAZ, Acting President of the High Council of Judges and Prosecutors of Turkey, ANKARA

Mr Burak Turan BENLI,Judge, Foreign Affairs&Project Department, The High Council of Judges and Prosecutors, ANKARA

Ms. Burcu SINOPLU, Judge, The High Council of Judges and Prosecutors of Turkey, ANKARA

Ms. Cağlayan SAYHAN SOYDAN, Interpreter

UKRAINE:

Mr Viktor GORODOVENKO, President of the Court of Appeal of Zaporizhzhia region, ZAPORIZHZHIA

UNITED KINGDOM/ ROYAUME-UNI:

Lord Justice Kim LEWISON, Royal Courts of Justice, Strand, LONDON

SCIENTIFIC EXPERT / EXPERT SCIENTIFIQUE

Mr Marco FABRI, Director, Research Institute on Judicial Systems, National Research Council (IRSIG-CNR), BOLOGNA

OBSERVER STATES/ ETATS OBSERVATEURS

JAPAN/JAPON:

Mr Masayuki IKEGAMI, Justice, Supreme Court of Japan, TOKYO

Mr Kaoru HIRAYAMA, Judge, Tokyo District Court, TOKYO

Mr Shun KITAGAWA, Consul, Consulate-General of Japan, STRASBOURG

Ms Kyoko HITOTA, Interpreter

OBERVERS / OBSERVATEURS

European Judicial Training Network (EJTN) / Réseau européen de formation des juges (REFJ)

Mr Quentin Balthazart, European Judicial Training Network (EJTN), BRUSSELS, Belgium

European Network of Councils of the Judiciary (ENCJ) / Réseau européen des conseils de la justice (RECJ)

M. Alain LACABARATS, Président de Chambre, Cour de Cassation, PARIS, France

Magistrats européens pour la démocratie et les libertés (MEDEL)

Mme Dragana BOLJEVIC, Secrétaire générale, BERLIN, Germany

(apologized / excusée)

Association of European administrative judges/ Fédération européenne des juges administratifs

M. Pierre VINCENT, Presiding Judge, Nancy Administrative court of Appeal, NANCY, Franc

OTHER EXPERTS / AUTRES EXPERTS

MOROCCO / MAROC

Mr Abdelali BOUHMALA, Juge détaché à la direction des affaires civiles, Ministère de la Justice et des Libertés, RABBAT

Mr Abdelghani EL AMINE, Directeur adjoint, Direction des Etudes de la Coopération et de la Modernisation (DECM), Ministère de la Justice et des Libertés, RABBAT

COMMITTEES OF THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE / COMITES DU CONSEIL DE l’EUROPE

EUROPEAN COMMITTEE OF LEGAL COOPERATION / COMITE EUROPEEN DE COOPERATION JURIDIQUE (CDCJ)

Mr Arsenio de Oliveira, Head of Department, International Affairs Department

Directorate-General for Justice Policy, Ministry of Justice, LISBON, Portugal

STEERING COMMITTE ON CRIME PROBLEMS / COMITE DIRECTEUR POUR LES PROBLEMES CRIMINELS (CDPC)

Mr Sławomir BUCZMA, National Expert, General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union, BRUSSELS, Belgium

(apologized / excusé)

COUNCIL OF EUROPE’S SECRETARIAT / SECRETARIAT DU CONSEIL DE L’EUROPE

Directorate General I - Human Rights and Rule of Law /

Direction Générale I - Droits de l’Homme et Etat de Droit

Ms Hanne JUNCHER, Head of Justice and Legal Co-operation Department / Chef du Service  de la coopération judiciaire et juridique

Tél: +33(0) 88 41 24 37, E-mail: [email protected]

Mr Artashes MELIKYAN, Co-Secretary of the CCJE /Co-Secrétaire du CCJE

Tel: + 33 (0)3 90 21, E-mail: [email protected]

Mme Clementina BARBARO, Administrator / Administrateur

Mme Annette SATTEL, Administration et Réseaux / Administration and Networks

Tel: + 33 (0)3 88 41 39 04, E-mail : [email protected]

Ms Anna KHROMOVA, Assistante / Assistant

Tel: +33 (0)3 88 41 21 68; Fax: +33 (0)3 90 21 50 33, E-mail: [email protected]

Ms Despina TRAMOUNTANI, Assistant / Assistant

Tel : +33 (0)3 90 21 62 95, Fax : +33 (0)3 90 21 50 33,

E-mail [email protected]

Ms Blerina BULICA, Trainee / Stagiaire

INTERPRETERS / INTERPRETES

Amanda BEDDOWS

Rebecca BOWEN

Christopher TYCZKA