Strasbourg, 11 December 2009
CEPEJ(2009)15
EUROPEAN Commission FOR THE EFFICIENCY OF justice
(CEPEJ)
14th plenary meeting
Strasbourg, 9 - 10 December 2009
MEETING REPORT
Report prepared by the Secretariat
Directorate General of Human Rights and Legal Affairs
1. The European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice (CEPEJ) held its 14th plenary meeting in Strasbourg on 9 – 10 December 2009. The meeting was chaired by Mr Fausto de SANTIS (Italy).
2. The agenda and the list of participants appear in the Appendix.
1. Information by the President of the CEPEJ and the Secretariat
3. The CEPEJ took note of the information given by its President, its members and its Secretariat who participated in various fora where the work of the CEPEJ was introduced and discussed:
- participation of the Secretariat in the Symposium on Court and mediation: new path for justice (18 – 19 June 2009, Barcelona, Spain),
- participation of Jean-Paul JEAN in Colloquy organised by the High Council of Judiciciary of
Spain: the reform of the criminal system (21 - 24 July 2009, Coruna, Spain),
- participation of Ivana BORZOVA in the 20th Congress of the International Union of Judicial Officers (7 – 11 September 2009, Marseille, France),
- participation of François PAYCHERE in the Court Case Management Forum in Dubaï (3 October 2009, United Arab Emirates),
- participation of John STACEY in the Annual Congress of the European Association of Rechtspfleger (8 – 11 October 2009, La Grande Motte, France),
- participation of the Secretariat in the EURO-MED meeting on justice organised by the European Commission (19 October 2009, Brussels),
- participation of John STACEY in the 4th Conference of the International Association for Court Administration (2 – 5 November 2009, Istanbul, Turkey),
- participation of the Secretariat in a EU meeting on the situation of justice in the Russian Federation (10 November 2009, Brussels).
2. Study Session
4. The CEPEJ welcomed the presentations and the discussions on the measurement of the performance of judicial systems and courts, highlighted the pre-eminent position of this issue for improving the efficiency and the quality of a public service of justice turned to court users while safeguarding the independence of judges and instructed its working groups to take into account the content of this debate in their current and future work, so that it remains a major concern of the CEPEJ's agenda;
5. agreed to post on the CEPEJ's web site a special file including in particular the presentations made at the study session (see: www.coe.int/cepej).
3. Recent developments in the judicial field in the Council of Europe member states
6. The CEPEJ took note of the information given by representatives Albania, Croatia, France, Germany, Ireland, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, "the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia", Turkey and United Kingdom on recent domestic developments in the judicial field and invited its members to forward to the Secretariat written information and useful references which could be included in the area "country profiles" of its web site;
7. took note of the priorities of the Swiss Presidency of the Committee of Ministers introduced by its member in respect of Switzerland and thanked the Swiss authorities for having invited the Network of pilot courts and the Steering group of the SATURN Centre to meet in Geneva on 12 – 14 April 2010.
4. Evaluation of European judicial systems
8. The CEPEJ took note of the report by the experts and the Secretariat on the peer evaluation visits on judicial statistics in Malta and in the Russian Federation, agreed to pursue the cycle of evaluation visits in 2010 with Northern European countries (for Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden) and Turkey and noted that Germany and Moldova would confirm their possible candidature in the coming weeks,
9. noted that an in-depth study on the role of lawyers in judicial procedures, led by the CCBE, was under preparation and invited its members who would have not done it so far to answer to the complementary questionnaire prepared by the CCBE within the framework of this study; noted that a report on the organisation of the court clerk office, prepared by the Association Alumni for the Centre of Interdisciplinary Postgraduate Studies (ACIPS) in Bosnia-Herzegovina should be completed at the request of the CEPEJ-GT-EVAL before being submitted to the CEPEJ for approval; noted that a report on "single judge and panels of judges" was under preparation by MEDEL; thanked all the instances that had accepted to undertake these studies;
10. invited its members and the national correspondents to take appropriate measures so that the replies to the Evaluation Scheme are submitted to the Secretariat, through its electronic version, before 31 December 2009;
11. warmly thanked the authorities of Switzerland for having seconded to the Secretariat an expert to assist the CEPEJ-GT-EVAL in the preparation of the draft report and took note that the Secretariat had appointed a scientific expert entrusted with judicial data processing;
12. entrusted the CEPEJ-GT-EVAL to prepare the draft report "European judicial systems – Edition 2010" and to submit it to the 15th plenary meeting.
5. Quality of justice
13. The CEPEJ supported the ongoing work within the CEPEJ-GT-QUAL and invited the Group to finalise for its 15th CEPEJ's plenary meeting a study on the quality systems in Europe, guidelines on the contractualisation of judicial proceedings as well as a handbook on the satisfaction surveys aimed at court users of justice which would have been previously trialled within the Network of pilot courts.
6. SATURN Centre on judicial time management
14. The CEPEJ instructed the Steering Group of the SATURN Centre to continue its work in order to set up a European observatory on judicial timeframes and design the appropriate tools, while drawing on the expertise of the Network of pilot courts.
7. Enforcement of court decisions
15. The CEPEJ adopted theGuidelines for a better implementation of the Council of Europe's Recommendation on enforcement (CEPEJ(2009)11), decided to submit them to the Committee of Ministers so that it can take note of it and invited its members to disseminate them widely to policy makers and courts of their countries and to facilitate their translation, where appropriate.
8. CEPEJ Network of Pilot Courts
16. The CEPEJ welcomed the conclusions of the 4th plenary meeting of the Network and invited the CEPEJ's members as well as the Pilot Courts to implement these conclusions (CEPEJ(2009)7) in 2010.
9. Targeted co-operation with member states
17. The CEPEJ approved its experts' report "assessing the Portuguese policy on procedural flows and fight against judicial backlogs (CEPEJ-COOP(2009)1);
18. welcomed the information given by its member in respect of Armenia as a follow up to the experts' report on court organisation in Armenia (CEPEJ-COOP(2009)3) and agreed to pursue its targeted cooperation on this basis in 2010;
19. took note of the information given by the experts and the Secretariat following their visit to Malta to carry out an evaluation of the functioning of the judicial system (2 – 4 December 2009), instructed the experts to finalise as soon as possible a report including concrete recommendations and entrusted its Bureau to forward this report to the authorities in Malta;
20. agreed to cooperate with Azerbaijan to assess the on-going reforms aimed at setting up and administrative court system;
10. Integration of the Lisbon Network within the CEPEJ's activity programme
21. According to Article 3.e of its Statute, the CEPEJ decided to include the European Network for the exchange of information between persons and entities responsible for the training of judges and public prosecutors (Lisbon Network) into its activity programme and entrusted its Bureau to define the working modalities of this Network with the CEPEJ, taking into account the proposals made by the Network's members and in ensuring the establishment of a proper cooperation with the CCJE.
11. Activity programme of the CEPEJ
22. The CEPEJ adopted the CEPEJ's Medium term programme (CEPEJ(2009)4) and subsequently its activity programme for 2010 (CEPEJ (2009)10) and decided to forward them to the Committee of Ministers so that it can take note of them;
23. invited the member states, through the CEPEJ members, where appropriate, to propose to the Secretariat by 15 January 2010 qualified experts to participate in the working groups and entrusted its Bureau to appoint members of these working groups taking into account these proposals.
12. Relations between the CEPEJ and the other bodies of the Council of Europe
24. The CEPEJ took note of the information on the activities of the Consultative Council of European Judges (CCJE), the Consultative Council of European Prosecutors (CCPE), the European Committee of Legal Cooperation (CDCJ), the European Committee on Crime Problems (CDPC) and the Steering Committee on Human Rights (CDDH);
25. welcomed in particular cooperation between the CEPEJ, through the Steering group of the SATURN Centre, and the Committee of experts on effective remedies for excessive length of proceedings (DH-RE) which finalised a draft recommendation on effective remedies for excessive length of proceedings as well as of Guide of good practice aimed at being joined to the Recommendation, which draws in particular on the work of the CEPEJ as regards judicial time management;
26. also welcomed cooperation between the CEPEJ and the Group of Specialists on the judiciary (CJ-S-JUD) and the active participation of its representative in the work aimed at reviewing Recommendation R(94)12 on the independence, efficiency and role of judges;
27. agreed to pursue its very good cooperation with the Consultative Council of European Judges (CCJE) so as to ensure the proper articulation between its recent work on enforcement of court decisions and the work which would be undertaken by the CCJE in 2010 on this topic.
13. Cooperation with the European Union
28. The CEPEJ took note of the information given by the representatives of Sweden and Spain, speaking on behalf of the outgoing and incoming presidencies of the European Union, on the recent and foreseen developments within the Union in the field of justice, as well as of the information given by the representative of the Secretariat General of the European Union, whom it welcomed;
29. reiterated its full disposal to cooperate with the relevant bodies of the European Union for the implementation of the Stockholm Programme as regards evaluation of judicial systems, drawing on its specific expertise;
30. welcomed the continuation of the joint organisation of the « Crystal Scales of Justice » by the Council of Europe, within the framework of the CEPEJ's activity programme, and the European Commission in 2010;
31. invited its members to promote the European Day of Justice in their country around 25 October 2010.
14. Observers with the CEPEJ
32. The CEPEJ took note of the information given by its Observers (see inter alia Appenix III), thanked them for their concrete contribution to its activities and invitedthem to further contribute to the implementation of its programme of activities.
15. Election of one member the Bureau
33. The CEPEJ elected in replacement of Ms Ivana BORZOVA (Czech Republic), Mr Georg STAWA (Austria) as member of the Bureau for a one year period.
16. Any other business
34. The CEPEJtook note of the request by the authorities of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for the CEPEJ to organise a mission for evaluating the functioning of their justice system and entrusted the Secretariat to consult the relevant bodies of the Council of Europe before giving a positive reply to this request, which it saw as a strong signal of the appreciation of the CEPEJ's work even beyond European borders; if appropriate, the CEPEJ would be able to draw on the existing bilateral contacts between some of the member states and the UAE.
Appendix I
AGENDA
1. Opening of the meeting
2. Adoption of the agenda
3. Information by the President of the CEPEJ and the Secretariat
|
4. Study session: measuring the performance of judicial systems and courts Wednesday 9 December – 9.30 9.30 General introduction: justice as a public service Jean-Paul JEAN, Prosecutor, Court of Appeal of Paris, Associated Professor at the Law faculty of Poitiers, France), Chairman of the CEPEJ-GT-EVAL 9.45 How to measure court performance while safeguarding the fundamental principles of justice? François PAYCHERE, Judge at the Court of justice of the Geneva canton, Switzerland, Chairman of the CEPEJ-GT-QUAL
10.00 Discussion 10.15 Is there a relationship between court size and court performance? Georg STAWA, Public Prosecutor, Directorate for Central Administration and Coordination, Federal Ministry of Justice, Austria, Member of the CEPEJ-GT-EVAL
10h30 Discussion
11h00 Pause 11h30 Is it possible to measure court performance? The lessons from the evaluation system in the Netherlands Frans van der DOELEN, Programme Manager, Department of the Justice System, Ministry of Justice, The Netherlands, Member of the CEPEJ-GT-EVAL 11h45 New management policies in the courts of the Russian Federation Vyacheslav PANTELEEV, President of the Odintsovo City Court of the Moscow Region 12h00 Towards CEPEJ's indicators of court performance? Presentation of preliminary works by Georg STAWA 12h15 Discussion |
5. Recent developments in the judicial field in the Council of Europe Member states
Delegations are invited, if they so wish, to inform the CEPEJ on recent significant developments in their countries in the judicial field since July 2098, where appropriate.
6. Evaluation of European judicial systems
1. Information on the in-depth studies from the 2008 report (Secretariat)
2. 2008 – 2010 evaluation cycle
§ Preparation of the answers to the Evaluation Scheme: on-going work with the national correspondents
Delegations are invited to inform the CEPEJ on the on-going process for preparing the national replies to the Scheme and raise possible difficulties, including as regards the implementation of the GOJUST Guidelines on judicial statistics, in particular on case flow management (clearance rate and disposition time) and on the timeframes of proceedings for the four case categories (litigious divorces, dismissal cases, robberies and intentional homicides).
§ Information on data processing and Report drafting (Secretariat)
3. Peer evaluation cooperation process
Rapporteur: Jean-Paul JEAN, Chairman of the CEPEJ-GT-EVAL
7. Quality of justice (CEPEJ-GT-QUAL)
i. Presentation of the draft Study on quality systems in Europe
Rapporteur: François PAYCHERE, Chairman of the CEPEJ-GT-QUAL
ii. Presentation of the draft Handbook for carrying out of surveys of the court user’s satisfaction within the member states of the Council of Europe
Rapporteur: Jean-Paul JEAN, Scientific expert (France)
8. SATURN Centre on judicial time management
Rapporteur: Jacques BÜHLER, Chair of the Steering group
i. Cooperation with the Network of pilot courts
ii. Designing tools for setting up the European Observatory of judicial timeframes
9. Execution of court decisions: discussion of the draft Guidelines prepared by the CEPEJ-GT-EXE, in view of their adoption
Rapporteur: Georg STAWA (Austria), member of the CEPEJ-GT-EXE
10. CEPEJ Network of Pilot Courts
Rapporteur: John STACEY, Vice-President of the CEPEJ
i. 4th plenary meeting of the Network (Strasbourg, 10 September 2009)
ii. Setting up of clusters
11. Targeted co-operation of the CEPEJ with Member states
i. Portugal: information of the follow up given by the Portuguese authorities to the CEPEJ's reports on policies to ease procedural flows and fight backlogs and on dematerialization and use of IT in the justice field
ii. Malta: evaluation of the efficiency of the justice system (expert mission of 2 – 3 December 2009)
iii. Armenia: follow up to the 2009 report on the organisation of justice
iv. Other requests for 2010
Members of the CEPEJ are requested to prepare for the meeting, if need be, proposals of concrete activities in the light of the specific needs of their state in 2010.
12. Possible integration of the Lisbon Network within the CEPEJ's activity programme
Rapporteur: Elsa GARCIA MALTRAS de BLAS (Spain)
13. Discussion of the draft Mid term programme of the CEPEJ, in view of its adoption
Rapporteur: Kristian TURKALJ (Croatia)
14. Discussion of the draft Activity programme of the CEPEJ for 2010 in view of its adoption
Rapporteur: Irakli ADEISHVILI (Georgia)
15. Relations between the CEPEJ and the other bodies of the Council of Europe
i. Consultative Council of European Judges (CCJE)
ii. Consultative Council of European Prosecutors (CCPE)
iii. European Committee on Legal Cooperation (CDCJ)
iv. European Committee on Crime Problems (CDPC)
v. Steering Committee for Human Rights (CDDH)
16. Co-operation with the European Union
i. Last developments within the European Union in the judicial field
Rapporteurs: Anne RAPP (Sweden) and Elsa GARCIA MATRAS de BLAS (Spain) on behalf of the outgoing and incoming presidencies of the European Union
ii. European Day of Justice and Crystal Scales of Justice (Secretariat)
17. Observers to the CEPEJ
Organisations who have been granted observer status with the CEPEJ are entitled, if they wish, to make an oral presentation of their current activities relevant to the CEPEJ and/or submit a written information to the Secretariat which could be distributed during the meeting.
18. Election of a member of the Bureau
Ivana BORZOVA (Czech Republic) will not renew her membership in the CEPEJ and will then withdraw from the Bureau in 2010. Therefore one post within the Bureau is vacant to replace her until then end of her mandate, at the end of 2010, together with Fausto de SANTIS (Italy), President, John STACEY (United Kingdom), Vice-President and Elsa GARCIA MALTRAS de BLAS (Spain). The candidatures can be indicated to the Secretariat before 9 December in the evening. The Secretariat recalls that Resolution Res(2005)47 of the Committee of Ministers stresses that Bureau members must be appointed "in accordance with an equitable distribution of posts, taking into account in particular, geographical distribution, gender balance and, where relevant, legal systems".
19. Any other business
Appendix II
List of Participants / Liste des participants
CEPEJ MEMBERS / MEMBRES DE LA CEPEJ
ALBANIA/ALBANIE
Rezana BALLA, Head of Department of Judicial Organisation, Ministry of Justice, TIRANA, Apologised /Excusée
Enid MINAROLLI, Department of Judicial Organisation, Ministry of Justice, TIRANA
ANDORRA/ANDORRE
Carme OBIOLS, Secrétaire Générale, Conseil supérieur de la Justice, ANDORRE LA VIEILLE
ARMENIA/ARMENIE
Armen SANOYAN, Chief Specialist, Department of international Legal Affairs, Ministry of Justice, YEREVAN
AUSTRIA/AUTRICHE
Georg STAWA, Public Prosecutor, Directorate for Central Administraiton and Coordination, Federal Ministry of Justice, VIENNA
AZERBAIJAN/AZERBAÏDJAN
Ramin GURBANOV, Senior Adviser, Department of Organisation and Analysis, Ministry of Justice, BAKU
BELGIUM/BELGIQUE
Dietger GEERAERT, Attaché Service Juridique, Direction Générale de l'Organisation Judiciaire, SPF Justice, BRUXELLES
BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA/BOSNIE-HERZÉGOVINE
Ljiljana FILIPOVIĆ, Judge, Supreme Court, Vrhovni sud FBiH, SARAJEVO
Mersudin PRUŽAN, Deputy Chief Disciplinary Counsel, Office of the Disciplinary Prosecutor, High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council of BiH, SARAJEVO
Rusmir SABETA, Head of Judicial Administration Departmebnt, High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council of Bosnia and Herzegovivna, SARAJEVO
BULGARIA/BULGARIE
Ekaterina STOYANOVA, Senior Expert, International Legal Co-operation and European Affairs Directorate, Ministry of Justice, SOFIA
CROATIA/CROATIE
Kristian TURKALJ, Assistant Minister, Ministry of Justice, ZAGREB
Jelena Siminiati, LLB Senior Legal Advisor, Division for EU, Directorate for EU and human rights, Ministry of Justice, ZAGREB
CYPRUS/CHYPRE
Efi PAPADOPOULOU, Legal Assistant, Supreme Court, NICOSIA
CZECH REPUBLIC/REPUBLIQUE TCHEQUE
Martina D. Ličková, International Cooperation Unit, Ministry of Justice, PRAGUE
DENMARK/DANEMARK
Klaus Rugaard, Chief Adviser, Documentation and analyses, Danish Court Administration, COPENHAGEN : Apologised / Excusé
ESTONIA/ESTONIE
Kadri ROOS, Advisor, Judicial Administration Policy Department, Ministry of Justice, TALLINN
FINLAND/FINLANDE
Kari Samuli KIESILĀINEN, Head of Department, Directorate General, Ministry of Justice, HELSINKI
FRANCE
Jean-Paul SUDRE, Inspecteur général adjoint des services judiciaires, Ministère de la Justice et des Libertés, PARIS
GEORGIA/GÉORGIE
Irakli ADEISHVILI, Judge, Chamber of Civil Cases, Tbilisi Appeals Court, TBILISI
GERMANY/ALLEMAGNE
Matthias HEGER, Chef du Service de Procédure civile internationale, Ministère fédéral de la Justice, BERLIN
GREECE/GRÈCE
Michael VRONTAKIS, Vice-Président du Conseil d’Etat, Arsakeion Megaron, ATHENES : Apologised / Excusé
HUNGARY/HONGRIE
Gábor SZÉPLAKI-NAGY, Conseiller référendaire à la Cour Suprême de Hongrie, Directeur de Cabinet de la Présidence, BUDAPEST
ICELAND/ISLANDE
Arnfriđur EINARSDÓTTIR, Judge, District Court of Reykjanes, HAFNARFIRDI
IRELAND/IRLANDE
Noel RUBOTHAM, Director of Reform and Development, Courts Service, DUBLIN
Brian ONEILL, Courts Policy Division, Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, DUBLIN
ITALY/ITALIE
Fausto DE SANTIS, Directeur Général au sein du Bureau de l’organisation judiciaire, Ministère de la Justice, ROME (President of the CEPEJ / Président de la CEPEJ),
LATVIA/LETTONIE
Aija BRANTA, Judge of the Constitutional Court, RIGA
LITHUANIA/LITUANIE
Laima GARNELIENE, Head of Criminal Cases Division of the Lithuanian Court Appeal, VILNIUS
LUXEMBOURG
Hélène MASSARD, Attaché-juriste, Ministère de la Justice, LUXEMBOURG
MALTA/MALTE
Francesco DEPASQUALE, Ministry representative, Ministry of Justice and Home Affairs, VALLETTA
Elizabeth GAERTY, Assistant, Ministry of Justice and Home Affairs, VALETTA
MOLDOVA
Diana SCOBIOALA, Head of Directorate General International Relations and European Integration of the Ministry of Justice, CHISINAU
MONACO
Jean Antoine CURRAU, Assistant référendaire près de la Cour d’Appel, Direction des Services judiciaires, MONACO
MONTENEGRO/MONTÉNÉGRO
Lidija MASANOVIC, Councilor at the Ministry of Justice, PODGORICA
NETHERLANDS/PAYS‑BAS
Frans van der DOELEN, Programme Manager of the Department of the Justice System, Ministry of Justice, THE HAGUE
Pim ALBERS, Senior Legal Advisor, Directorate of Judicial Affairs, Ministry of Justice, THE HAGUE
NORWAY/NORVÈGE
Audun BERG, Senior adviser, The National Courts Administration, TRONDHEIM
POLAND/POLOGNE
Tadeusz ERECINSKI, Professor of Law, President of the Supreme Court of Poland (Civil Chamber), WARSAW
PORTUGAL
João ARSENIO DE OLIVEIRA, Judicial Counselor, Directorate General for Justice Policy, Ministry of Justice, LISBONNE
ROMANIA/ROUMANIE
Violeta BELEGANTE, Conseiller juridique, Chef du service du droit privé, Direction de l'Elaboration des actes normatifs, des études et de la documentation, Ministère de la Justice, BUCAREST
THE RUSSISAN FEDERATION/FÉDÉRATION DE RUSSIE
Leonid SMERTIN, Head of the Main Division of Legal Organisation Support of the Courts Functioning of the Judicial Department, Supreme Court, MOSCOW
Evgeniy POPOV, Director of International Legal Co-operation Division, the Right State Counsellor of the Russian Federation, MOSCOW
Tatiana KOBOZEVA, Deputy of Chief in Legal Dept at the Supreme Court, MOSCOW
Vyacheslav PANTELEEV, President of Odintsovo City Court of the Moscow Region, ODINTSOVO
SERBIA/SERBIE
Milica VLASIC KOTUROVIC, Ministry of Justice, Department for Human Resources, BELGRADE; Apologised / Excusée
SLOVAK REPUBLIC/RÉPUBLIQUE SLOVAQUE
Ladislav DUDITS, Judge, Regional Court in Kosice, KOSICE
SLOVENIA/SLOVENIE
Marko SORLI, Vice President of the Supreme Court, LJUBLJANA
SPAIN/ESPAGNE
Elsa GARCIA-MALTRAS DE BLAS, Magistrat, Responsable du Programme d’échanges au Réseau européen de formation judiciaire (REFJ), BRUXELLES
SWEDEN/SUÈDE
Eva Fernqvist, Jurist, Juridiska avdelningen, Domstolsverket, Jönköping
Anne RAPP, Deputy Director, Division for Procedural Law and Court Issues, Ministry of Justice, STOCKHOLM
Claes Tidanå, Enhetschef, Ekonomiavdelningen, Enheten för analys, Jönköping
SWITZERLAND/SUISSE
Jacques BÜHLER, Secrétaire Général suppléant, Tribunal fédéral suisse, LAUSANNE (Chair of the Steering Group of the SATURN Centre/ Président du Groupe de Pilotage du Centre SATURN)
"THE FORMER YOUGOSLAV REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA" / "L'EX-RÉPUBLIQUE YOUGOSLAVE DE MACÉDOINE"
Nikola PROKOPENKO, Head of Department of Courts, Public Prosecutors and other Judicial institutions, Ministry of Justice, SKOPJE
TURKEY/TURQUIE
Gonca Gulfem BOZDAG, Judge, Ministry of Justice, ANKARA
UKRAINE
Herman Galuschenko, Head of international Law Division in the Presidential Secretariat of Ukraine, KYIV
UNITED KINGDOM/ROYAUME‑UNI
John STACEY, Head of International Development for Court Administration, Ministry of Justice, International Directorate, LONDON (Vice-Président of the CEPEJ / Vice-Président de la CEPEJ)
Anna LEE, Senior Policy on European Institutions Enlargement, Ministry of Justice, 102 Petty France, LONDON
***
OBSERVER STATES / ÉTATS OBSERVATEURS
HOLY SEE/SAINT-SIÈGE : Apologised / Excusé
JAPAN / JAPON
Hiroyuki MINAMI, Consul (Attorney), Consulate-General of Japan, STRASBOURG
***
OBSERVERS / OBSERVATEURS
COUNCIL OF THE BARS AND LAW SOCIETIES OF EUROPE / CONSEIL DES BARREAUX EUROPÉENS (CCBE)
Birgit BEGER, Senior Legal Advisor, European lawyers promoting law and justice, BRUSSELS, BELGIUM
Olivier FREYMOND, Freymond & Associés, LAUSANNE, SUISSE
Jana WURSTOVA, International Department, Czech Bar Association, PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC
EUROPEAN UNION OF RECHTSPFLEGER AND COURT CLERKS / UNION EUROPÉENNE DES GREFFIERS DE JUSTICE (EUR)
Thomas KAPPL, Président de l’Union européenne des Greffiers de justice, MUNICH, ALLEMAGNE
Jean-Jacques KUSTER, Greffier en chef, Tribunal d'Instance, Représentant de l'EUR auprès du Conseil de l'Europe, STRASBOURG, FRANCE
INTERNATIONAL UNION OF BAILIFFS / UNION INTERNATIONALE DES HUISSIERS DE JUSTICE ET OFFICIERS JUDICIAIRES (UIHJ)
Leo NETTEN, Président de l’UIHJ, PARIS, FRANCE
Mathieu CHARDON, Premier secrétaire de l’UIHJ, VERSAILLES, FRANCE
EUROPEAN FEDERATION OF ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGES / FÉDÉRATION EUROPÉENNE DES JUGES ADMINISTRATIFS
Pierre VINCENT, Cour Administrative d’Appel de Nancy, NANCY, FRANCE
MAGISTRATS EUROPÉENS POUR LES DÉMOCRATIES ET LES LIBERTÉS (MEDEL)
Eric ALT, Vice-Président de MEDEL, Magistrat, Juge et Conseiller référendaire, Cour de Cassation, PARIS, FRANCE
european judicial training network (EJTN) / RÉseau EuropÉen de Formation Judiciaire (REFJ)
Elsa GARCIA-MALTRAS DE BLAS, Magistrat, Responsable du Programme d’échanges au Réseau européen de formation judiciaire (REFJ), BRUXELLES, BELGIQUE
EUROPEAN NETWORK OF COUNCILS FOR THE JUDICIARY (ENCJ)/RESEAU EUROPEEN DES CONSEILS DE LA JUSTICE (RECJ)
LORD JUSTICE SIR JOHN THOMAS, Chair of the European Network of Councils for the Judiciary (ENCJ), LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM
***
EUROPEAN UNION / UNION EUROPÉENNE
Council of EuroPEAN Union / Conseil de l’Union europeenne
Luca DE MATTEIS, Secrétariat Général du Conseil de l’Union européenne, BRUXELLES, BELGIQUE
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT (LIBE Comission) / PARLEMENT EUROPEEN (Commission LIBE):Apologised / Excusé
***
THE HAGUE CONFERENCE OF PRIVATE INTERNATIONAL LAW / CONFÉRENCE DE LA HAYE DE DROIT INTERNATIONAL PRIVÉ: Apologised / Excusée
WORLDBANK / BANQUE MONDIALE : Apologised / Excusée
***
COUNCIL OF EUROPE / CONSEIL DE L’EUROPE
EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS / COUR EUROPÉENNE DES DROITS DE L’HOMME (CEDH)
Paola TONARELLI-LACORE, Registry of the European Court of Human Rights/Greffe de la Cour européenne des droits de l’Homme
PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY OF THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE / ASSEMBLÉE PARLEMENTAIRE DU CONSEIL DE L’EUROPE
Michel HUNAULT, Member of the French delegation, Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights / Membre de la délégation française, Commission des questions juridiques et des droits de l’Homme
CONSULTATIVE COUNCIL OF EUROPEAN JUDGES / CONSULTATIF CONSULTATIF DE JUGES EUROPEENS (CCJE)
Gerhard REISSNER, Vice-President of the Austrian Association of Judges, President of the District Court of Floridsdorf, VIENNA, AUSTRIA
EUROPEAN COMMITTEE ON LEGAL CO-OPERATION / COMITE EUROPÉEN DE COOPÉRATION JURIDIQUE (CDCJ)
Eberhard DESCH, Head of Division of International Law, Federal Ministry of Justice, BERLIN, GERMANY
CONSULTATIVE COUNCIL OF EUROPEAN PROSECUTORS / Conseil consultatif de procureurs européens (CCPE) : Apologised / Excusé
EUROPEAN COMMITTEE FOR CRIME PROBLEMS /COMITE EUROPEEN POUR LES PROBLÈMES CRIMINELS (CDPC) : Apologised / Excusé
STEERING COMMITTEE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS / COMITE DIRECTEUR POUR LES DROITS DE L’HOMME (CDDH)
Vít A. SCHORM, Agent of the Czech Government before the European Court of Human Rights, Ministry of Justice, PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC
***
CHAIRs of Working GROUPs OF THE cePEJ /
PRESIDENTs De GROUPEs DE TRAVAIL DE LA CEPEJ
Jean-Paul JEAN, Avocat général près la Cour d’Appel de Paris, Professeur associé à l’Université de Poitiers, Parquet Général, PARIS, FRANCE, Président du GT-EVAL
François PAYCHÈRE, Juge à la Cour de justice, GENEVE, SUISSE, Président du GT-QUAL
***
SCIENTIFIC EXPERTS / EXPERTS SCIENTIFIQUES
Natalia DELGRANDE, Experte statisticienne, LAUSANNE, SUISSE
OTHER PARTICIPANTS / AUTRES PARTICIPANTS
Deutsche Gesellschaft fÜr Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH / German Association for Technical Co-operation (GTZ)
Salome TSERETELI-STEPHENS, Monitoring, Judicial and Justice Reform in South-Caucase, TBILISI, GEORGIA
SECRETARIAT
Directorate General of Human Rights and Legal Affairs - Justice Division /
Direction Générale des droits de l’Homme et des affaires juridiques - Divison de la Justice
Fax: +33 3 88 41 37 43
e-mail: [email protected]
Stéphane LEYENBERGER, Acting Head of the Justice Division, Secretary of the CEPEJ / Chef a.i de la Division de la justice.,Secrétaire de la CEPEJ
Muriel DECOT, Co-Secretary of the CEPEJ / Co-secrétaire de la CEPEJ
Barbara SCHERER, Special Advisor to the Secretariat of the CEPEJ / Conseillère spéciale auprès du Secrétariat de la CEPEJ
Jean-Pierre GEILLER, Documentation
Annette SATTEL, Communication
Elisabeth HEURTEBISE, Assistant / Assistante
Interpreters / Interprètes
Didier JUNGLING
Pascale MICHLIN
Appendix III
Contribution by the Observers
EUROPEAN UNION OF RECHTSPFLEGER
Statement by the President, Thomas Kappl to the plenary session of the CEPEJ
Ladies and gentlemen,
it is a great pleasure and a great honour to take part at this plenary session of the CEPEJ as the President of the European Union of Rechtspfleger. Normally we are well represented by Mr. Jean-Jacques Kuster, our permanent representative at the Council of Europe. It was nearly one year ago, when the Green Paper for a European Rechtspfleger was handed over to the President of the CEPEJ, Mr. De Santis. This Green Paper shall serve to effectuate a public and academic discussion regarding the creation of a new European job description, the European Rechtspfleger, as well as to set up correspondingly basic judiciary-political aims.
We have started this public and academic discussion about the efficiency of justice in Europe. I handed over the Green Paper to many ministries of justice of the European countries, like, Sweden, Finland, Danmark, Estonia, Germany, The Netherlands, Luxemburg, France, Spain, Portugal, Austria, Italy, Slovenia and Croatia. In the meanwhile we have got an economic and financial crisis. Since the beginning of this crises, justice has to think about how to create a coordinated response to the challenges posed by the current crisis.
I think the answer is to strengthen the justice systems in Europe with a new profession, which is able to decide independently to relieve the judges. It is clear that the current financial and economic crisis will have a considerable impact on the justice systems not only in Europe but also in the world. In the next few months we will get a rise in the number of cases. The rise in the number of cases may lead to overloading
of Member States’ judicial systems, especially in orders for national and European payment procedures, bankruptcy and insolvency, enforcement, judicial sale and forced administration matters, matters of land register as well as commercial and register matters. These are ranges of the Rechtspfleger.
Ladies and gentlemen, we need the creation of a well trained judicial profession, working alongside judges, we need the creation of the European Rechtspfleger according to our Green Paper, to discharge the judges.
We need alternative proceedings, like an obligatory simplification procedure and mediation in order to discharge the civil courts, which could be led by the well trained judicial profession of Rechtspfleger. We
need an efficient justice, which is accessible to citizens.
Thank you for your attention.
***
COUNCIL OF BARS AND LAW SOCIETIES OF EUROPE (CCBE)
I. Introduction
The Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE) is the representative organisation of around 1 million European lawyers through its member bars and law societies from 31 full member countries, and 11 further associate and observer countries. The CCBE responds regularly on behalf of its members on policy issues which affect European citizens and lawyers.
The CCBE argues for the values of the rule of law and the public interest in our responses to consultations and in our position papers.
The CCBE has always been a promoter of the free movement of lawyers within the European Union. It has for several decades had a lawyers’ identity card for cross-border purposes, and an acclaimed Code of Conduct for cross-border activities. It has also actively participated in the legislative passage and implementation of the sectoral directives that apply to lawyers.
The CCBE very much welcomes co-operation with CEPEJ and is happy to provide its legal expertise to CEPEJ’s work. The CCBE in particular has been pleased to actively contribute to CEPEJ (2008) Evaluation report on European judicial systems - Edition 2008 (2006 data): Efficiency and quality of justice. In 2009, the CCBE took on work on the CEPEJ study on the role of lawyers in judicial proceedings in Europe which is planned to be finalised in 2010.
Below are highlighted some of the CCBE’s activities in 2009 in the area of efficiency of justice, both in the context of wider Europe and in the context of the European Union.
II. CCBE Activities related to efficiency of Justice in the context of the European Union
1. e-Justice
In May 2008, the Commission issued a Communication, entitled “Towards a European e-Justice Strategy”. The core of the e-Justice Strategy is the creation of an e-justice portal with a wide range of electronic tools, including e-government structures and judicial procedures.
a) Lawyers directory for the e-Justice portal – Project proposal
The CCBE aims to create a Find A Lawyer (hereinafter: FAL) search engine that will simplify and accelerate the process of searching for a lawyer in any EU Member State through a single point of entry. The CCBE‟s ultimate goal is that any EU citizen in any Member state can access a lawyer in another Member state using their own language. In order to achieve this, the CCBE is seeking funds from the European Commission for a pilot project The CCBE hopes that the results achieved in the pilot phase of the project will encourage the European Commission to fund subsequently the extension of the FAL search engine to the remaining EU Member states.
At present, a European citizen in need of a lawyer in another EU Member State is confronted with a system of individual national lawyers‟ databases. These databases are usually only available in one or two national languages, which can be problematic for EU citizens. In addition each individual database usually provides divergent search criteria that can be difficult to understand for EU citizens. This may result in EU citizens requiring further assistance in order to find a lawyer in another EU Member State. The CCBE believes that if an EU citizen in need of a lawyer in another EU Member State can find a lawyer in a simple manner, access to justice for EU citizens will be improved.
b) European Commission project – Factsheets on the « Rights of Defendants »
The CCBE has been awarded by the European commission the contract to produce Factsheets on the “Rights of Defendants”. These completed factsheets will be posted on completion of the project on the e-Justice Portal.
2. Promoting civil society dialogue between the European Union and Turkey
The CCBE - together with a number of national Bar Associations - assisted in a 18-month project on 'Promoting civil society dialogue between the European Union and Turkey' which was granted to the Union of Turkish Bar Associations in 2008. The project focused on the training of lawyers.
3. Taiex Seminar
The CCBE also assisted TAIEX (Technical Assistance and Information Exchange instrument managed by the Directorate-General Enlargement of the European Commission) in the organisation of seminars in the Balkan region and Turkey: the seminars allowed for discussion between European and national experts on rule of law issues. 3
4. EU Eastern Partnership Civil Society
In its Communication of December 2008 the Commission proposed “to support the further development of Civil Society Organisations” (CSOs) and, in particular, “to establish an Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum (CSF) to promote contacts among CSOs and facilitate their dialogue with public authorities”.
The CCBE was granted membership in the EU Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum covering Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Republic of Moldova and Ukraine; it will provide input and expertise concerning the development of the legal profession in these countries.
III. CCBE Activities related to efficiency of Justice in the context of wider Europe
1. Ukraine
The CCBE is in the process of preparing some comments on one of the Ukrainian draft laws on the Bar which aims at establishing an independent and self-regulated Bar Association; this is in response to a request from the head of the Ukrainian Parliament Committee on Legal Policy which the CCBE received at the beginning of July 2009. The CCBE has been following very closely the discussions on the law on the Bar in Ukraine over the last few years. The CCBE also provided an expert for the Council of Europe's activities concerning the law on the Bar.
2. Serbia
In October 2009, the CCBE issued comments on legislative initiatives in Serbia which aim at introducing fiscal cash registers for lawyers. These initiatives run counter to the profession's independence and professional secrecy. The CCBE is also looking into similar moves in FYROM.
3. Georgia
In May-July 2009, the CCBE provided comments on the discussions on the Law on the Bar in Georgia. It pointed to the risks and dangers of introducing multiple Bar Associations and suggested practical solutions for problems which caused difficulties for the Bar (quorum criteria for holding meetings and elections).
***