Strasbourg, 26 January 2016

CEPEJ-BU(2016)1

EuropeAn COMMISSION FOR THE EFFICIENCY OF justice

(CEPEJ)

27^th meeting of the Bureau of the CEPEJ

22 January 2016

MEETING REPORT

Document prepared by the Secretariat
Directorate General I – Human Rights and Rule of Law

1.     The Bureau of the European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice (CEPEJ) held its 27th meeting in Paris on 22 January 2016, chaired by Georg STAWA (Austria), President of the CEPEJ.

2.     Also present were the following members of the Bureau :

§  Ivana BORZOVA (Czech Republic), member;

§  Ramin GURBANOV (Azerbaijan), member.

3.     The Agenda appears in the Appendix to this report.

1.    Composition of the Bureau

4.     The Bureau took note of the replacement by the Georgian authorities of the Vice-President, Irakli Adeishvili, as a CEPEJ member. Although Mr Adeishvili was in the middle of its two year term as Vice-President, they agreed that he could not continue to seat in the Bureau without being a member of the CEPEJ.

5.     The Bureau decided to issue the Statement which appears in Appendix II and instructed the Secretariat to forward it to the CEPEJ members, the Secretary General, the President of the European Court of Human Rights and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.  

6.     The election of a new Vice-President, and possibly of a new member of the Bureau, would be organised at the next plenary meeting of the CEPEJ.

2.   Implementation of the 2016-2017 Activity Programme

a.     Calendar of the meetings

7.     The Bureau confirmed the draft agenda which appeared on the CEPEJ Web site. It decided that the plenary meeting of pilot courts would take place in Strasbourg, considering the current workload of the CEPEJ in 2016.

b.    Appointment of the experts of the Working Groups

8.     The Bureau took note of the various candidatures forwarded to the Secretariat and thanked all the contributing members. It decided to appoint deputy members in the various groups, who would be invited to participate in the meetings when a member could not attend.

 

9.     The composition of the working groups as decided by the Bureau appears in Appendix III.

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10.  The Bureau instructed the Secretariat to inform the new members of the groups, as well as the candidates who had not been appointed. It recalled that the experts appointed by the CEPEJ members, or the members themselves, could always participate in the working group meetings at their government’s expenses.

11.  As the working group on mediation (CEPEJ-GT-MED) would only meet in 2017, the Bureau decided to postpone its composition until the end of the year.

c.     Evaluation of judicial systems     

12.  The Bureau welcomed the fact that al the participating member states and Israel had forwarded their replies to the Evaluation Scheme in time to be processed in good conditions. They took note that only Liechtenstein and San Marino would not participate in the evaluation process.

13.  They also noted the positive rate of replies to the specific questionnaire on IT in courts, which could be used to prepare a thematic report, in addition to the report presenting key data for judicial systems.

14.  The Secretariat informed the Bureau of the on-going work to develop a specific dynamic data base, opened to the public through a new software (Tableau), for presenting the whole set of data collected and processed. The Bureau stressed that it would be essential to select carefully the issues to be presented and data to be crossed. They invited the Secretariat to pursue this work and to propose concrete modalities for using this dynamic data base to the CEPEJ-GT-EVAL.

15.  The Bureau decided that the evaluation reports would be made public on 6 October 2016 through a press conference to take place at the CoE Office in Paris. This material would be presented previously to the Committee of Ministers by the President of the CEPEJ in Strasbourg on 5 October 2015.

The next Bureau would take place in Paris on 6 October after the press conference, so that all the Bureau members could attend it.

16.  As regards the on-going cooperation with the European Commission for the « EU Justice Scoreboard », the Bureau took note that the United Kingdom would finally not participate.

17.  As the on-going contract between the EC and the CoE would come to an end in March 2017, the Bureau instructed the Secretariat to launch negotiation with the European Commission for pursuing such cooperation.

18.  The Bureau took note that the next peer review visit would take place in Serbia on 1-2 March 2016.

19.  The Bureau instructed the Secretariat to pursue its cooperation with the Department for the execution of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights, and in particular to provide this Department with relevant data which could facilitate its own assessment of the situation of judicial systems in the member states.

d.    SATURNCentre

20.  The Bureau was informed that the on-going activities within the Steering group of the SATURN Centre for judicial time management were being carried out according to the Activity programme.

e.     Quality of Justice

21.  The Bureau was informed that the on-going activities within the CEPEJ-GT-QUAL were being carried out according to the Activity programme.

22.  The Bureau recalled the relevance of proposing indicators for the quality of justice. Georg STAWA informed that he would participate in the next GT-QUAL meeting together with an Austrian expert who would introduce the current work on this issue in his country. The Bureau noted that the European Network of the Councils for the Judiciary had also worked in this field; this could also be a source of inspiration.

f.      Cooperation programmes and activities

23.  The Bureau instructed the Secretariat to pursue the training of new experts on the CEPEJ methodology and tools, as that they could participate in new CEPEJ cooperation programmes.

24.  The Bureau took note of the on-going and planned activities regarding the following programmes :

• Support to the Efficiency of justice (SEJ) in Albania, which should be prolonged within the framework of the Horizontal Facility for South-Eastern Europe due to be signed in the coming weeks between the CoE and the EU;
• Cooperation for improving court management in Kosovo^[1], which could also be prolonged within the

framework of the Horizontal Facility;

• Cooperation for improving court management in Azerbaijan and in the Republic of Moldova, within

the framework of the on-going Programmatic cooperation framework with the EU;

• Quality and efficiency of justice in Croatia, funded by the EEA/Norway Grants;
• Civil mediation in Turkey, funded by the Swedish Agency (SIDA);
• Joint EU-COE programme  for Strengthening democratic reform in the southern neighbourhood (Tunisia and Jordan) ;
• New specific Joint CoE-EU programme for Morocco.

25.  The Bureau reiterated that the CEPEJ should remain opened for cooperating with Ukraine, but only if there was a clear request from the Ukrainian authorities themselves, where the CEPEJ could have a genuine added value.

26.  The Bureau welcomed the court coaching programme to be organised with several courts in France, starting from the Court of Avignon.

27.  The Bureau confirmed its willingness that the CEPEJ contributes to the evaluation of the Latvian judicial system as requested by the Latvian authorities. It entrusted the Secretariat to further dialogue with the Latvian authorities to define the clear framework for such cooperation and took note that a meeting should be organised on 16 February – possibly by video-conference.

28.  The Bureau took note of the request for cooperation introduced by its member in respect of Belgium. It instructed the CEPEJ-GT-EVAL to further examine this request at its next meeting and propose appropriate action.

3.    CEPEJ working as a clearing house for best practices on court management

29.  Following a discussion at the last plenary meeting, the Bureau decided that the CEPEJ set up a “CEPEJ Innovation Centre”, entrusted in particular to list on the CEPEJ web site innovative practices carried out in the member states (and beyond) to improve court management. The Centre should list who is doing what and give details to be used to get more information about a specific practice.

30.  The Centre could rely in particular on the responses to the last question of the CEPEJ evaluation Scheme and the practices highlighted through the “crystal Scales of Justice”.

4.     2^nd World Forum on Enforcement proposed by the UIHJ

31.  The International Union of Bailiffs and Judicial Officers had proposed to organised in Strasbourg, together with the CEPEJ, at the end of 2016 (within the framework of the CEPEJ plenary), the 2nd World Forum on Enforcement. The Bureau proposed that, if the Forum had to take place in Strasbourg, 2017 would be a most suitable date. Should it be organized outside Strasbourg by the UIHJ itself, the CEPEJ would participate.

5.     Representation of the CEPEJ in other fora

32.  The Bureau decided that the CEPEJ could not be represented in the Forum Europe- Africa of the International Union of Bailiffs and Judicial Officers in Dakar.

33.  Ivana BORZOVA confirmed her participation in the IACA Conference in The Hague on 18-20 May 2016.

6.    Individual complaints submitted to the CEPEJ concerning justice matters

34.  The Secretariat indicated that no specific complaints were received for further examination by the Bureau.

Appendix I / Annexe I

AGENDA / ORDRE DU JOUR

1.    Adoption of the agenda / Adoption de l’ordre du jour

2.    Information by the President of the CEPEJ, members of the Bureau and the Secretariat / Informations du Président de la CEPEJ, des membres du Bureau et du Secrétariat

3.    Composition of the Bureau / Composition du Bureau

§  Replacement of the Vice-President / Remplacement du Vice-Président

4.    Implementation of the 2016-2017 Activity Programme / Mise en oeuvre du Programme d’activité 2016-2017

a.     Calendar of the meetings / Calendrier des réunions

b.    Appointment of the experts of the Working Groups / Désignation des experts des Groupes de travail

§  CEPEJ-GT-EVAL

§  Steering committee of the SATURN Centre / Groupe de pilotage du Centre SATURN

§  CEPEJ-GT-QUAL

§  [CEPEJ-GT-MED]

c.     Evaluation of judicial systems / Evaluation des systèmes judiciaires     

§  Situation of the answers to the Evaluation Scheme / Situation des réponses à la Grille d'évaluation

§  Final products from the evaluation exercise / Production résultant de l’exercice d’évaluation

§  Report presenting key data / Rapport présentant les données clé

§  Thematic report / Rapport thématique

§  Electronic presentation of the data and findings / Présentation électronique des données et résultats

§  Timetable for the 2014 – 2016 evaluation cycle / Calendrier des travaux pour le cycle d'évaluation 2014 – 2016

§  Cooperation with the EC for the « EU Justice Scoreboard » / Coopération avec la CE pour le « Tableau de bord de l’UE sur la justice »

§  Peer review cooperation process (Serbia) / Processus de coopération à travers une évaluation par les pairs (Serbie)

§  Cooperation with the Department for Execution of Judgments of the European Court of Human Rights / Coopération avec le Service de l’Exécution des arrêts de la Cour européenne des droits de l'Homme

d.    SATURNCentre / Centre SATURN

§  Information on the ongoing activities / Information sur les activités en cours

§  Plenary meeting of the Network of pilot courts / Réunion plénière du Réseau de tribunaux-référents

e.     Quality of Justice / Qualité de la Justice

§  Information on the ongoing activities / Information sur les activités en cours

§  ENCJ project on quality / Programme du RECJ sur la qualité

§  Plenary meeting of the Network of pilot courts / Réunion plénière du Réseau de tribunaux-référents

f.      Co-operation programmes and activities / Programmes et activités de coopération

§  Working methodology / Méthodes de travail

§  CEPEJ co-operation programmes / Programmes de coopération de la CEPEJ :

§  Support to the Efficiency of justice / Soutien à l’efficacité de la justice (SEJ)  - Horizontal Facility / Facilité horizontale (Albania, Albanie / Kosovo^[2])

§  Programmatic framework / Cadre programmatique PCF (Azerbaijan / Azerbaïdjan, Republic of Moldova / République de Moldova)

§  Quanlity and efficiency of justice in Croatie (EEA/Norway Grants) / Qualité et efficacité de la justice en Croatie (EEA/Norway Grants)

§  Civil mediation / médiation civile (Turkey / Turquie)

§  Strengthening democratic reform in the southern neighbourhood : Morocco, Tunisia and Jordan / Renforcer la réforme démocratique dans les pays du voisinage méridional : Maroc, Tunisie et Jordanie

§  Possible cooperation with Ukraine / Possible coopération avec l’Ukraine

§  Court coaching programme in France / Programme de formation des tribunaux en France

§  Request for cooperation by Latvia / Demande de coopération de la Lettonie

§  Request for cooperation by Belgium / Demande de coopération de la Belgique

5.    CEPEJ working as a clearing house for best practices on court management / La CEPEJ fonctionnant comme “clearing house” des bonnes pratiques en matière de gestion des tribunaux

 

6.     2^nd World Forum on Enforcement proposed by the UIHJ / 2ème Forum mondial de l’exécution proposé par l’UIHJ

7.    Representation of the CEPEJ in other fora / Représentation de la CEPEJ dans d'autres fora

8.    Individual complaints submitted to the CEPEJ concerning justice matters / Plaintes individuelles adressées à la CEPEJ sur des questions relatives au fonctionnement de la justice

9.    Any other business / Questions diverses

Appendix II / Annexe II

Paris, 22 January / janvier 2016

STATEMENT BY THE BUREAU OF THE

EUROPEAN COMMISSION FOR THE EFFICIENCY OF JUSTICE (CEPEJ)

ON THE REPLACEMENT OF ITS VICE-PRESIDENT, MR IRAKLI ADEISHVILI,

AS A MEMBER OF THE CEPEJ

/

DECLARATION DU BUREAU DE LA

COMMISSION EUROPEENNE POUR L’EFFICACITE DE LA JUSTICE (CEPEJ)

RELATIVE AU REMPLACEMENT DE SON VICE-PRESIDENT, M. IRAKLI ADEISHVILI,

COMME MEMBRE DE LA CEPEJ

The Bureau of the CEPEJ has taken note of the replacement by the Georgian authorities of Mr Irakli ADEISHVILI as a CEPEJ member. It welcomes Ms Nino BAKAKURI, Judge at the Supreme Court of Georgia, as a new CEPEJ member in respect of Georgia.

However it regrets that Mr ADEISHVILI has been replaced in the middle of his two year term as Vice-President of the CEPEJ.

The Bureau of the CEPEJ hopes that the decision taken by the Georgian government is not linked with the work of Mr ADEISHVILI as an ad hoc judge at the European Court of Human Rights and recalls that, as a fundamental principle of the independence of justice, judges cannot be made liable for the content of their decisions. It also recalls that, in any case, ad hoc judges are entitled to the same protection as elected judges of the Court within the framework of 6th Protocol to the General Agreement on Privileges and Immunities of the Council of Europe.

The Bureau of the CEPEJ expressed its appreciation to Mr ADEISHVILI for his commitment and contribution to the work of the CEPEJ during 9 years.

/

Le Bureau de la CEPEJ a pris note du remplacement par les autorités géorgiennes de M. Irakli ADEISHVILI comme membre de la CEPEJ. Il souhaite la bienvenue à Mme Nino BAKAKURI, Juge à la Cour Suprême de Géorgie, en tant que nouveau membre de la CEPEJ au titre de la Géorgie.

Il regrette toutefois que M. ADEISHVILI ait été remplacé au milieu de son mandat de deux ans comme Vice-Président de la CEPEJ.

Le Bureau de la CEPEJ espère que la décision prise par le gouvernement géorgien n’est pas liée au travail de M. ADEISHVILI comme juge ad hoc auprès de la Cour Européenne des Droits de l'Homme et rappelle qu’il est un principe fondamental de l'indépendance de la justice selon lequel la responsabilité des juges ne peut pas être engagée pour le contenu de leurs décisions. Il rappelle également que, en tout état de cause, les juges ad hoc ont droit à la même protection que les juges élus de la Cour, dans le cadre du Protocole n°6 à l'Accord général sur les privilèges et immunités du Conseil de l'Europe.

Le Bureau de la CEPEJ exprime sa gratitude à M. ADEISHVILI pour son engagement et sa contribution aux travaux de la CEPEJ au cours des 9 années passées.