Strasbourg, 11 October 2012

CEPEJ-BU(2012)5

European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice

(CEPEJ)

20th Bureau meeting

Strasbourg, 10 October 2012

MEETING REPORT

Report drawn up by the Secretariat

General Directorate of Human Rights and the Rule of Law

1.     The Bureau of the European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice (CEPEJ) held its 20th meeting in Strasbourg on 10 October 2012, with Mr John STACEY (United Kingdom), President of the CEPEJ, in the chair.

2.     The following members of the Bureau were also present:

§  Mr Georg STAWA (Austria), Vice-President of the CEPEJ;

§  Mr Irakli ADEISHVILI (Georgia), Member;

§  Mr Audun BERG (Norway), Member.

3.     The agenda is set out in the Appendix.

1.     Process for evaluating European judicial systems

4.     The Secretariat pointed out that the report on “European judicial systems - Edition 2012” had been  published on 20 September in the context of the Conference of Ministers of Justice in Vienna. The Conference had received special support from the Ministers of Justice of Austria, Azerbaijan and France, who had made statements at the press conference.

5.     The Secretariat drew attention to the substantial press review concerning the 2012 report and the growing interest in Europe for this subject. The Bureau instructed the Secretariat to study the press review to identify the themes most often referred to and the countries showing most interest.

6.     It was agreed that delegations would be asked to make a short summary of the report’s impact in their country before the plenary meeting on 6 and 7 December 2012.

7.     The Secretariat reported on the difficulties encountered when drafting the report. The Bureau instructed CEPEJ-GT-EVAL to take stock of the evaluation process since the first edition, so as to draw lessons for coming years. The Bureau agreed that it was necessary to have a permanent statistician so that this exercise could continue to develop.

  1. Co-operation with the European Union

8.     The Secretariat informed the Bureau that a “Study on the impact of the functioning of judicial systems on the economic situation of the EU member states” was being prepared.

9.     The members of the Secretariat and the experts responsible for drafting the report had attended a meeting with the European Commission in Brussels on 5 October 2012 with a view to finalising the study. The report was due to be submitted on 7 November 2012.

10.  The Bureau agreed that future co-operation between the CEPEJ and the European Union should be clearly identified to ensure that it was fully in keeping with the objectives, principles and methodology of the CEPEJ. This could be achieved by means of a framework agreement or another appropriate framework document. The Bureau reiterated its strong interest in continuing co-operation within such a framework and agreed that the plenary should be fully informed of such co-operation.

  1. European Day of Justice and Crystal Scales of Justice

11.  A new edition of the Crystal Scales of Justice had been organised together with the European Commission in the context of the forthcoming European Day of Justice.

12.  The main event would take place in Vilnius (Lithuania) where the Crystal Scales would be handed over to the winner of the competition. The three other shortlisted projects would also receive awards.

13.  There was growing interest in the competition: 40 candidatures had been received this year from 21 countries.

 

4.     Co-operation programmes with Morocco, Tunisia and Jordan

14.  The Secretariat presented the programmes that had been implemented in co-operation with Morocco, Tunisia and shortly with Jordan, in the context of the Council of Europe’s neighbourhood policy, through joint programmes with the European Union. These programmes were being carried out under the auspices of the CEPEJ, with the full support of its tools and methodology: the aim was to assess the functioning of judicial systems and to assist the relevant authorities in implementing recommendations.

15.  A visit had been made to Jordan at the end of September to present the CEPEJ’s work and methods to the Jordanian authorities. The programme was still being negotiated but should be implemented very soon.

16.  A second visit to Morocco had been scheduled for late October in the context of the “South Programme” involving Morocco and Tunisia. The purpose of this visit would be to meet new discussion partners such as members of the Bar or the National Judicial Council and to gather further information. The Secretariat also informed members that a visit would be made to Tunisia in late November.

17.  The experts were selected from among the members of the CEPEJ and its working groups. The composition of the delegations, as approved by the Bureau, appears in Appendix 2.

5.     CEPEJ participation in various forums

18.  The Bureau was pleased to hear that reputation of the CEPEJ was growing and that it had received numerous requests to speak at various forums.

 

19.  However, the Secretariat explained that it was difficult to accept all of the invitations sometimes because there was not enough time to do so or because there were no experts available

20.  The Bureau instructed the Secretariat to manage the requests on a case-by-case basis and to  either turn down the invitation or propose that a member of the Secretariat, a member of the CEPEJ or an expert attend.

6.     10th anniversary of the CEPEJ

21.  The Bureau and the Secretariat discussed the organisation of the 10th anniversary of the CEPEJ, which was to be celebrated at the plenary meeting on 6 December 2012.

 

22.  The Secretariat suggested inviting the representatives of different legal professions (judges, prosecutors, lawyers…) to describe how they used the CEPEJ’s tools in their field of work. Hanne JUNCHER and the Bureau also suggested inviting the representatives of ministries, given that the CEPEJ’s instruments were also designed for public decision-makers. Members of the working groups could also explain the use of the instruments developed by the CEPEJ.

23.  It was also suggested that a video be made and that a special “newsletter” be published.

7.     Gender equality in the activities of the CEPEJ

24.  The Secretariat said that Gábor SZÉPLAKI-NAGY (Hungary) had been appointed special CEPEJ rapporteur on gender equality issues. A half-day training session was to be held for the rapporteurs of all Council of Europe committees and Gábor SZÉPLAKI-NAGY would be attending.

25.  The Bureau welcomed the interest shown in gender equality issues in the report on the evaluation of European judicial systems. New questions on the composition of the judiciary had been introduced for the first time and were producing good results.

  1. Composition of the next Bureau

26.  All of the Bureau members said they intended to seek renewal of their mandate.

 

9. Individual complaints submitted to the CEPEJ concerning judicial matters

27.  The Secretariat said that it had not received any specific complaints that required examination by  the Bureau.

  1. Other business

28.  The Bureau prepared the exchange of views between the President of the CEPEJ and the Ministers’ Deputies, which was to be held that same day. Several delegations had been instructed by their governments to support the proposal concerning the creation of a permanent post for a statistician in the Secretariat, following the joint initiative of the French and Austrian Ministers of Justice. The Bureau said that this was important for the sustainability of the CEPEJ’s work in evaluating judicial systems.

Annexe 1

AGENDA

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

2.    Informations des membres du Bureau et du Secrétariat / Information by the Bureau members and the Secretariat

3.     Processus pour l’évaluation des systèmes judiciaires européens / Process for evaluating European judicial systems

o    bilan du processus mis en oeuvre / debriefing on the process implemented

o    évaluation de l’impact/ assessment of the impact

4.     Coopération avec l’Union européenne / Co-operation with the European Union

o    remise du rapport à la Commission européenne / forward of the report to the European Commission

o    possible suivi de la cooperation avec la CE / possible follow up cooperation with the EC

5.     Programmes de coopération avec le Maroc, la Tunisie et la Jordanie / Cooperation programmes with Morocco, Tunisia and Jordan

6.     Participation de la CEPEJ dans différents fora / Participation of CEPEJ in various fora

7.     10ème anniversaire de la CEPEJ / 10th anniversary of CEPEJ 

8.     Egalité hommes – femmes dans les activités de la CEPEJ / Gender issues within CEPEJ activity

9.     Composition du prochain Bureau / Composition of the next Bureau

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

11.  Questions diverses / Any other business

Annexe 2

Composition of the experts delegation for the cooperation programmes with Marocco and Tunisia as decided by the Bureau of the CEPEJ

Composition des délégations d’experts dans le cadre des programmes de coopération avec le Maroc et la Tunisie telles que décidées par le Bureau de la CEPEJ

1. Members of the expert delegation for the cooperation programme with Morocco/ Membres de la délégation d’experts pour le programme de coopération avec le Maroc

Country / Pays

Name / Nom

Title / Fonction

France/ France

Luc BRIAND 

CEPEJ National Correspondant, SAEI, Ministry of Justice

Correspondant national de la CEPEJ, SAEI, Ministère de la Justice

Switzerland/ Suisse

Jacques BÜHLER

Deputy Secretary General, Swiss Federal Tribunal, Chairman of the SATURN Steering Group

Secrétaire Général suppléant, Tribunal Fédéral suisse, Président du Groupe de pilotage SATURN

Portugal / Portugal

Joao ARSENIO DE OLIVEIRA

Judicial Counselor, Directorate General for Justice Policy, Ministry of  Justice, CEPEJ Member

Conseiller juridique, Direction Générale des questions politiques, Ministère de la justice, Membre de la CEPEJ

MathieuCHARDON

International Union of Judicial Officers / Union Internationale des Huissiers de Justice

2. Members of the expert delegation for the cooperation programme with Tunisia/ Membres de la délégation d’experts pour le programme de coopération avec la Tunisie

Country / Pays

Name / Nom

Title / Fonction

Belgium /  Belgique

Cédric VISART de BOCARME

Prosecutor General of Liège, Vice-President of the CCPE /

Procureur Général de Liège, Vice-Président du CCPE

France/ France

Jean-Paul JEAN

Prosecutor, Court of Appeal of Paris, Associated Professor at the Law Faculty of Poitiers, Chairman of the CEPEJ-GT-EVAL

Procureur près la Cour d'Appel de Paris, Professeur associé à la Faculté de droit de Poitiers, Président du CEPEJ-GT-EVAL

Switzerland/ Suisse

François PAYCHERE

Judge at the Court of Justice of the Repubic and Geneva District, Chairman of the CEPEJ-GT-QUAL

Juge à la Cour de justice de la République et canton de Genève, Président du CEPEJ-GT-QUAL