Strasbourg, 9 December 2005                                                     CEPEJ (2005) 10

EUROPEAN COMMISSION FOR THE EFFICIENCY OF JUSTICE

(CEPEJ)

Medium-Term Activity Programme

1.       In the Action Plan adopted at the Third Summit (Warsaw, 16 - 17 May 2005), the Heads of State and Government of Council of Europe member states decided to develop the evaluation and assistance functions of the CEPEJ in order to help member states deliver justice fairly and rapidly.  

2.      The mission of the CEPEJ is central to the activities of the Council of Europe, which is tasked with 'promoting common fundamental values: human rights, rule of law and democracy” by “strengthening democracy, good governance and the rule of law in member states”.[1]

3.      In order to be able to pursue these priorities as effectively as possible, the CEPEJ instructed its Bureau, at its 5^th plenary meeting[2], to develop a medium-term strategy and work programme in the light of the Action Plan adopted at the Summit and taking into account the informal exchange of views with the Permanent Representatives of Germany and Sweden at the 5^th plenary meeting[3].

4.      These guidelines were approved by the CEPEJ at its 6^th plenary meeting (Strasbourg, 7 – 9 December 2005.

5.      The CEPEJ annual activity programmes for the coming four years (2006-2009) will be based on the following considerations and priorities.

1.            WORKING PRINCIPLES

1.1    To promote joint action by all member states of the Council of Europe

6.      To ensure that all members of the CEPEJ are actively involved in its work, in particular by:

-   making routine use of rapporteurs to present the various agenda items at plenary meetings,

-   ensuring that CEPEJ working groups have a balanced membership,

-   encouraging CEPEJ members to meet regularly with the relevant persons in national administrations and also with their national counterparts in other Council of Europe bodies with which the CEPEJ is called on to cooperate, in order to ensure effective coordination in the work of these bodies and, where appropriate, develop synergies; this applies in particular to the Consultative Council of European Judges (CCJE), the Consultative Council of European Prosecutors (CCPE), the European Committee on Legal Co-operation (CDCJ), the European Committee on Crime Problems (CDPC), the Steering Committee for Human Rights (CDDH), the Venice Commission and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe; CEPEJ members should likewise be encouraged to meet with representatives of the pilot courts designated by their respective countries;

-   allowing CEPEJ members to play an active part in the various fora for discussion and suggestions concerning the functioning of judicial systems.

7.      To encourage CEPEJ members to promote the work of the CEPEJ among the competent national authorities and bodies and report to the CEPEJ on a regular basis on the impact of its work in the judicial system and judicial reform in the member states.

1.2    To implement the CEPEJ Statute in its entirety

8.      The CEPEJ Statute is now sufficiently broad and comprehensive, in terms of both its functions (Article 2) and working methods (Article 3), to enable the CEPEJ to develop its work on evaluating judicial systems and assisting member states in improving the efficiency and quality of those systems.   

9.      Whatever the priorities set, CEPEJ members will bear in mind all the tasks assigned to the Commission, in particular:

-   regular evaluation of the functioning of European judicial systems;

-   appropriate use of the results of this evaluation exercise;

-   development of general measures designed to improve the functioning of judicial systems in member states;

-   to provide assistance to any member state, at their request, to implement the relevant Council of Europe instruments and the tools developed by the CEPEJ.

1.3    To contribute to the smooth functioning of the human rights protection machinery of the Council of Europe

10.   The CEPEJ is meant to help ease congestion in the European Court of Human Rights by reducing the number of applications based on Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights.  The priorities of the CEPEJ are set in particular with due regard for the cases before the European Court of Human Rights. It is required to consider general measures aimed notably at preventing the recurrence of any violations observed in a particular state.  

11.    The CEPEJ accordingly maintains an ongoing dialogue with the competent Council of Europe bodies in the field of human rights.  The results achieved by the CEPEJ may be useful for enforcing the decisions of the ECHR and for answering questions posed during monitoring of the execution of decisions by the department concerned.  Some general measures adopted by member states under the supervision of the Committee of Ministers may also be of interest to the CEPEJ in its work.

12.   While its work may differ, in terms of its nature and objectives, from that of these other bodies, it must be conducted in such a way that member states do not receive conflicting messages from the various instances of the Council of Europe.

      1.4    To develop dialogue with other competent European and international bodies         

13.   The work of the CEPEJ should be widely accessible to European and international bodies seeking to improve the efficiency of justice, so that they can draw on its achievements in the course of their own activities.  In its endeavours, the CEPEJ should also have regard, as far as possible, to the work done by other bodies, in the interest of effective action, credible proposals and a consistent political message.

14.   This dialogue needs to be pursued first and foremost with the competent bodies in the Council of Europe, in particular those mentioned under paragraph 6 above.  The CEPEJ must be ready to respond to requests from these bodies. 

 

15.   Drawing on the Action Plan adopted at the Third Summit of Heads of State and Government, having in mind the perspective of the report on the relationship between the Council of Europe and the European Commission foreseen in the Warsaw Declaration, and taking into account the dialogue already established by the CEPEJ with the European Commission and the European Parliament, the CEPEJ will also continue its efforts to strengthen interactions with the European Union.

This cooperation will have to be based on a clear vision of the complementarity between the Council of Europe and the European Union as regards the functioning of justice so as their respective achievements and vision in the judicial sphere are duly reflected in the activities of both institutions. 

The evaluation of the efficiency of judicial systems should in particular be addressed in this context, as a key element of the mutual confidence between judicial systems and the smooth application of the EU instruments for judicial cooperation. Thus the evaluation process of European judicial systems by the CEPEJ could be taken into account and used by the European Union.

Moreover, specific activities carried out by the CEPEJ with some member states of, or candidate states to the European Union, as regards the functioning of the justice system could be politically supported and effectively considered by the EU.

A strengthened participation of the EU in the work of the CEPEJ as well as the development of an appropriate framework enabling the CEPEJ to inform the relevant bodies of the EU on its findings could contribute to this cooperation.

16.   Finally the CEPEJ will have to develop its relations with other international institutions in the judicial field, and especially the World Bank, the Hague Conference on private international law and the OSCE, in order to ensure a smooth articulation between its own works and the activities of these institutions.

           

1.5    Working while listening to users of the justice system and relying on professional networks

17.   In an effort to improve dialogue between users of the justice system and policy-makers, the CEPEJ will continue its activities aimed at professional organisations in the judicial sphere, competent NGOs, academics and the users of justice.

18.   Its work thus needs to be made accessible to them, including through consultation and exchanges of views on specific issues. The CEPEJ will see to it that the judicial professions are properly represented at any events it sponsors (seminars, colloquies, etc).  

It will endeavour to participate, as far as possible, in any events to which these organisations may invite it.

19.   The CEPEJ will also develop appropriate modalities which would enable it to take into account the voice of the users of justice and will endeavour to promote the necessary dialogue between the civil society and the bodies responsible for the public service of justice in order to contribute to the proper consideration of the expectations of the society as regards the functioning of justice.

20.  In accordance with Article 3.e of its Statute, the CEPEJ will further develop networks of judicial professionals to collect information, ideas and comments as regards it own achievements from those bodies who are making the justice system function on a day to day basis and to facilitate the ownership of the measures it develop by those who are the main targets of these measures. The networks could also serve as laboratories where the tools set up by the CEPEJ could be trialled to make it sure that they can be applied to all member States.

Priority should be given to the strengthening of the active and regular cooperation with the already established CEPEJ Network of pilot courts and the Network of national correspondents in charge of the collection the data for the evaluation of judicial systems.       

Other networks could be further set up according to the development of the work of the CEPEJ.  

      1.6    To become an authority in the debate on justice in Europe

21.   The CEPEJ must develop its communication tools in order to promote its work among policy-makers in the member states and the European legal community.

22.  It must also become a key source of information on the main issues relating to the functioning of judicial systems.

2.            MEDIUM-TERM PRIORITIES

2.1    To develop tools for analysing the functioning of judicial systems and ensuring that public policies concerning the courts are geared to greater efficiency and higher quality

2.1.1 To evaluate judicial systems on a regular basis and analyse the results

23.  The pilot evaluation exercise and the positive way in which it has been received from policy-makers and the legal community show that the CEPEJ has chosen the right route.  The Action Plan adopted at the Third Summit is a further vindication of the decision of the CEPEJ to undertake regular evaluations of judicial systems in the 46 Council of Europe member states, using a revised Scheme.    

The frequency of these evaluations will be determined from one evaluation exercise to the next.

The next evaluation exercise will concern judicial data for the year 2004, collected using the Scheme adopted by the CEPEJ at its 5^th plenary meeting (June 2005).  The evaluation report will be published in the course of 2006.

24.   The evaluation exercise is based on:

-   a specialised CEPEJ working group;

-   a network of national correspondents responsible for coordinating data collection.

Data collection and processing are organised by the CEPEJ Secretariat.  The collection and processing tools should be further developed to ensure that the work is both efficient and credible.  

25.  The CEPEJ working group will determine the practical arrangements for verifying the credibility and relevance of the data provided by member states.  

It will also propose measures for ensuring standardised data collection across the member states, in particular by drawing up a list of key data for the evaluation and by making recommendations so that states can organise their statistics-gathering systems in such a way as to be able to supply these data in future.

26.  Particular attention will be given to publishing the results of the evaluation exercise so that the findings can be clearly understood and interpreted by the media and the public at large.  Communication professionals could be called on to assist in this task.

27.  In a second phase, the CEPEJ will turn its attention to the analysis of the results of the evaluation exercise.  It should direct its efforts towards “letting the figures speak for themselves” and making general recommendations accordingly.

Particular attention should be given to this analysis and interpretation work, the arrangements for which will be entrusted to a specialised working group.

2.1.2 To develop practical measures to promote the implementation of Council of Europe instruments and improve the functioning of judicial systems in the member states

28.  The CEPEJ should produce practical proposals to be submitted to member states in order to help improve the efficiency of their judicial systems and facilitate the effective implementation of Council of Europe instruments.  Since the area to be covered is very wide, it would be counterproductive for the CEPEJ to pursue a large number of strands at once.  It therefore needs to set priorities, having regard, inter alia, to:

-   the relevant recommendations of the Council of Europe, as set out in Appendix II to its Statute,

-   the issues arising from cases before the European Court of Human Rights (see paragraphs 11 to 13 above);

-   the Opinions of the CCJE, insofar as the work could help secure compliance with these Opinions in member states.  

29.  The CEPEJ will focus on the following priorities:

i)   Timeframes of judicial proceedings

      Considering in particular the volume of cases before the European Convention on Human Rights concerning the violation of reasonable time of proceedings as well as the information in the CEPEJ Report "European judicial systems: facts and figures " as regards the average length of proceedings, the works carried out by the Task Force on timeframes of proceedings (CEPEJ-TF-DEL) should be pursued.

ii)  Alternative dispute resolution methods, including mediation

The importance given to ADR in the debate on the efficiency of justice in Europe as a way to respond to an increasing demand for justice as well as the normative efforts dedicated to ADR by international institutions (and in particular the Council of Europe) justify that the CEPEJ focuses in particular on this field in the coming years, as also implied in the Action Plan adopted at the 3^rd Summit of the Council of Europe[5].

iii) Court management

The public service of justice must operate in an efficient way, considering both the need to guarantee individual rights and freedoms and the necessity to deliver quality service for the sake of the community. The CEPEJ could contribute to the development of the principles of good governance applied to court management, taking into account the specificity of the public service of justice. It will find in particular valuable avenues to explore in the Opinion N° 6 of the CCJE[7]. The CEPEJ could in particular focus its work on the following areas: 

-   the use of new technologies in courts

-   highlighting and finding ways of remedying dysfunctions within courts

- developing initiatives to raise the quality of public service of justice

iv) Execution of court decisions

The effective execution of the court decision is an integral part of compliance with Article 6 of the European Convention of Human Rights. Having regard to the cases currently before the Court and the recent instruments adopted by the Council of Europe in the field of execution, the CEPEJ could address this issue as a priority.

iv) Legal aid

Access to court is an essential issue when dealing with the efficiency of justice and the application of Article 6 of the European Convention of Human Rights. The information included in the Report of the CEPEJ "European judicial systems; facts and figures" shows significant differences as regards the way legal aid is addressed according to the various states, which the CEPEJ will have to analyse. It could also take into account the Opinion N° 6 of the CCJE to study the current problems and new solutions in this field.

30.  The CEPEJ will draw, inter alia, on:

-   working groups specifically set up to examine existing situations and propose concrete measures to improve the efficiency of judicial systems; the creation of various groups working in parallel will depend on the budgetary resources available;

-   the network of pilot courts designated by member states, in order to ensure that its work reflects the practical experience of courts and can actually be utilised in member states’ judicial systems; certain measures proposed by the CEPEJ could, for example, be trialled in pilot courts.

2.1.3 To support member states in the smooth functioning of their justice system and their judicial reforms

31.   The CEPEJ is meant to provide technical assistance to any Council of Europe member which so request in order to improve the organisation and functioning of their justice systems.   The technical support provided by the CEPEJ is based mainly on the implementation of Council of Europe instruments relating to the functioning of the judiciary and the general recommendations framed in the course of its work.

32.  In addition to bilateral cooperation with member states, the activities of the CEPEJ could also be used as a catalyst for encouraging exchanges and cooperation between several member states by offering a specific appropriate framework (seminars on issues of common interest for several states, comparative studies, etc.)

33.  The CEPEJ must organise its work in such a way as to retain the flexibility and responsiveness required to answer member states’ requests, in keeping with its Statute.  It is for the Bureau to determine the priorities for the CEPEJ based on the resources available.

2.2   To contribute specific expertise to the debate about the functioning of the justice system

2.2.1 To provide the legal community with a forum for discussion and suggestions  

34.  The CEPEJ will continue organising conferences and seminars on matters of major relevance to the organisation and functioning of the judicial system, in connection with the work of the CEPEJ, to which representatives of member states and the European legal community are invited.

The CEPEJ aims to hold at least one debate open to the legal community per year.

The CEPEJ will draw on its close relationship with the European Commission, and in particular the European Judicial Network in civil and commercial matters, when organising some of these events.

35.  Members of the CEPEJ and its Secretariat should also be receptive, depending on their availability, to the idea of attending events organised by other bodies where they could usefully promote the work of the CEPEJ and gather information and ideas to stimulate the activities of the CEPEJ.  

The CEPEJ could draw up a list of members who would be willing to do this, indicating their specialist areas.

Care should be taken to ensure that the annual budget of the CEPEJ is sufficiently flexible to allow the CEPEJ to be represented at these events.  

 

36.  The CEPEJ should also continue developing its web site so that it becomes a real source of up-to-date information for member states and the legal community.  It should thus act as a “clearing-house” for relevant documents and studies in the field of efficiency of justice, according to a structured approach.  

2.2.2 To bring justice systems and their users closer

37.  The CEPEJ should continue to act as a driving force and a pool of information for the European Day of Civil Justice, which it helped institute, together with the European Commission.  The aim is to establish this Day as a key date in member states’ legal calendar, so as to raise public awareness of judicial systems and sensitise policy-makers and legal professionals to user needs and wants.  

38.  The CEPEJ will be able to develop tools for promoting the European Day of Justice, in association with the European Commission.

Transfrontier initiatives implemented within the framework of the Day should be supported in particular. They contribute also to the intercultural dialogue and the application of the objectives of the Faro Declaration adopted by the Council of Europe on 28 October 2005.  

39.  Particular attention should be given to developing the European Prize for innovative practice contributing to the quality of civil justice, the “Crystal Scales of Justice” award, so as to highlight and spread best practices – some of which could be used in the work of the CEPEJ to develop general measures.