Strasbourg, 1 March 2008

CEPEJ-BU(2008)2

European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice (CEPEJ)

11th meeting of the Bureau - Strasbourg, 25 January 2008 - Meeting report

Report prepared by the Secretariat

Directorate General of Human Rights and Legal Affairs

1.    The Bureau of the European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice (CEPEJ) held its 11th meeting in Strasbourg on 25 January 2008, with Mr Fausto de SANTIS (Italy), President of the CEPEJ, in the chair.

2.    The following Bureau members were also represented:

§  Mrs Ivana BORZOVA (Czech Republic);

§  Mrs Elsa GARCIA MALTRAS de BLAS (Spain);

§  Mr John STACEY (United Kingdom), Vice-president of the CEPEJ.

3.    The agenda is appended.

1.   Information from the President of the CEPEJ and the Secretariat

4.    The Secretariat informed the Bureau that Mr Guy MAGNIER, the expert seconded to the CEPEJ Secretariat by the French Ministry of Justice, would take up his post on 18 February 2008.  He would participate in the drafting of the report evaluating European judicial systems.

2.   Implementation of the 2008 Programme of activities

2.1 Calendar of the meetings

5.    The Bureau considered the invitation from the Court of appeal of Catania (Italy) to host the next plenary meeting of the Network of national correspondents and decided to accept it.  It was decided that the meeting would be held on 24 October 2008, within the framework of European Day of Justice, and would be the occasion for awarding the "Crystal Scales of Justice" prize, subject to agreement from the European Commission.  It also proposed that the 12th Bureau meeting be held at the same time.

6.    It was proposed to bring forward the GT-EVAL meeting from 19-20 March to 18-19 March 2008.

2.2 Evaluation of judicial systems

7.    As all the Group's members had sought a further term of office, the Bureau decided to renew the mandates of the entire 2007 membership of the CEPEJ-GT-EVAL.

8.    The Bureau was informed that seven member States had not submitted a full or partial reply to the evaluation scheme for judicial systems.  The Secretariat was instructed to issue reminders to those member States, inter alia through a letter from the Director General to the permanent representatives of the States concerned.

 

9.    The Bureau agreed that the report on European judicial systems would be submitted for adoption at the 11th plenary meeting (Strasbourg, 2-3 July 2008) so that it could be presented to the Committee of Ministers at the deputies' meeting on 8 October 2008.  It could be published and presented at a press conference on the same day.

10.  The Bureau agreed on the following timetable for visits by experts for the peer review cooperation process on judicial statistics:

§  Paris (France), 31 January – 1 February 2008

§  Sarajevo (Bosnia & Herzegovina), 25 – 26 March 2008

§  Warsaw (Poland), 28 – 29 April 2008.

It was agreed that, in addition to the CEPEJ-GT-EVAL experts in respect of the countries concerned, F. de SANTIS and E. GARCIA MALTRAS de BLAS could participate in the visits.

A report for the CEPEJ-GT-EVAL would be prepared with the assistance of the Secretariat once the three visits had taken place.

2.3 SATURN Centre for Judicial Time Management

11.  The Bureau was informed that the specific questionnaire on length of proceedings, case categories and judicial time management policies prepared by the steering group ("groupe de pilotage") had been sent to all the pilot courts and copied to the members of the CEPEJ.  The deadline for replies was 15 February 2008.  Analysis of the replies would be entrusted to a scientific expert, Marco FABRI (Italy), who would submit his report to the "groupe de pilotage" at its next meeting (15 – 16 May 2008).

2.4 Quality of Justice

12.  The Bureau decided to renew the mandates of the members of the CEPEJ-GT-QUAL who were seeking a further term of office.  It noted that Mrs Elske von AMELSFORT (Netherlands) had been called to other duties and agreed that she could be replaced, where applicable, by another expert designated by the competent authorities of the Netherlands.  It also confirmed the participation of Mr Kari TURTIAINEN (Finland), a former substitute member, as member of the Group, whose expenses would be reimbursed by the Council of Europe.

13.  The Bureau was informed that the objective of the CEPEJ-GT-QUAL was to submit a draft Checklist to promote quality for justice for adoption at the 11th plenary meeting of the CEPEJ.  It was also informed of the research project on the different systems of quality of justice in Europe, which the CEPEJ-GT-QUAL might entrust to a team of researchers led by Philip LANGBROEK (Netherlands).

2.5 Cooperation with the Pilot courts

14.  In the light of the low level of response from network members to requests from the Secretariat, the Bureau members discussed how to optimise participation of the pilot courts in CEPEJ activities.  In particular they decided on the following actions:

§  in line with the work programme adopted in 2007, remind the pilot courts to assess the usefulness of the Checklist for judicial time management,

§  invite the pilot courts to submit concrete proposals for the European Day of Justice  and/or the "Crystal Scales of Justice" award,

§  highlight one or several pilot courts in the next CEPEJ Newsletter,

§  the pilot courts could be asked for their views on

-   the main difficulties encountered in court management,

-   the means used, where applicable, to gauge court user satisfaction.

15.  It was agreed that only the pilot courts which had been active since the last plenary network meeting would be invited to attend the next one at the expense of the Council of Europe in Catania (24 October 2008).

2.6 Assistance activities

16.  The Bureau took note of the requests for cooperation formally transmitted by the Bulgarian Ministry of Justice.  It decided to engage in cooperation in 2008 with regard to:

§  methods of assessing the workload of judges, prosecutors and investigators

§  criteria for assessing judges individually,

§  criteria and indicators for classifying courts and prosecutor's offices

and instructed the Secretariat to organise this cooperation.

Since the issue of the setting up of a European Centre for the execution of judicial decisions had more to do with the Council of Europe's cooperation programmes, it instructed the Secretariat to forward this request to the departments concerned within the DG-HL.

2.7 European Day of Justice and "Crystal Scales of Justice"

17.  Several Bureau members proposed that promotional material not relating to any given year, reusable from one year to the next, be developed for European Day of Justice.

18.  The Secretariat informed the Bureau of its dealings with the European Commission regarding the organisation of the Crystal Scales of Justice.  A jury was being selected and would meet on 30 September to select three initiatives, including the prizewinner.  The deadline for entries was set for 1 June 2008.  The Secretariat said that, given the administrative and budgetary difficulties it was encountering in setting up a single prize for the efficiency of justice, the European Commission was considering the possibility of awarding prizes in alternating years for civil justice and criminal justice respectively.

      2.8 Representation of the CEPEJ in other meetings

19.  The Bureau agreed to pursue a case-by-case approach to decide on representation of the CEPEJ in the various meetings within and outside the Council of Europe, based on the information available from the Secretariat.

3.   Conclusions of the Special session for the 5th anniversary of the CEPEJ

20.  The Bureau agreed that the next study session organised by the CEPEJ during its 12th plenary meeting could focus on the shift of the role of the CEPEJ towards a body tasked with alerting public-sector decision-makers to difficulties in the functioning of their judicial system.

4.   Mediation: drafting of proposals for the CDCJ and the CDPC

21.  The Bureau examined the draft Memorandum for the CDCJ and the CDPC on possible follow-up to evaluation of the impact of Council of Europe Recommendations on mediation (CEPEJ-BU(2008)1).  It was agreed that additional comments could be sent to the Secretariat by 15 February 2008 before the document was sent out to the committees concerned.

5.   Preparation of the Activity Report 2007

22.  The Bureau instructed the Secretariat to prepare a draft Activity Report 2007 on the basis of the activity report adopted for 2006.  The draft would be e-mailed to the Bureau members for approval, before being submitted at the 11th plenary meeting of the CEPEJ.

6.   Cooperation with the European Union

23.  In order to improve cooperation between the CEPEJ and the competent bodies within the European Union, the Bureau agreed to invite the members of the CEPEJ to inform their countries' permanent representations to the European Union of the activities of the CEPEJ.  A draft model letter could be prepared along these lines for the CEPEJ members by the Secretariat.

7.   Setting up of a CEPEJ Scientific Network

24.  The Bureau agreed that this Network would consist of university and research institutions already involved in CEPEJ activities (CEPEJ studies, scientific experts etc) as well as the institutions to be designated by the members of the CEPEJ.  It would mainly be a platform for exchanging information.  An area would be set aside for it on the CEPEJ internet site and also in the Newsletter and the discussion forum.  Meetings of the Network could be held as needed.  The Bureau instructed the Secretariat to set the Network up on this basis.

25.  The Bureau thought it premature at this stage to set up a scientific council, as suggested at the previous CEPEJ plenary meeting.  The option could be reconsidered at a later stage, depending on progress in cooperation between the CEPEJ and the Network.

8.   Individual complaints submitted to the CEPEJ concerning justice matters

26.  The Secretariat said that there were no individual complaints to be examined by the Bureau.

9.   Other business

27.  The Bureau instructed the Secretariat to prepare and keep up to date a work-plan for the CEPEJ, indicating the different contributions expected from the different players in the programme (CEPEJ members, experts, national correspondents, members of networks etc) and the deadlines for those contributions.

Annexe

AGENDA / ORDRE DU JOUR

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

2.    Information by the President of the CEPEJ and the Secretariat /

Informations du Président de la CEPEJ et du Secrétariat

3.    Implementation of the 2008 Programme of activites /

Mise en oeuvre du Programme d’activités 2008

a.    Calendar of the meetings / Calendrier des réunions

b.    Evaluation of judicial systems / Evaluation des systèmes judiciaires          

§  Appointment of the experts of the CEPEJ-GT-EVAL /

Nomination de experts du CEPEJ-GT-EVAL

§  Situation of the answers to the Scheme / Situation des réponses à la Grille

§  Timeframe for adopting and preparing the report /

Calendrier pour préparer et présenter le rapport

§  Pilot peer review cooperation process /

Processus pilote de coopération à travers une évaluation par les pairs

c.    SATURN Centre / Centre SATURN

§  Information on the on-going activities / information sur les activités en cours

d.  Quality of Justice / Qualité de la Justice

§  Appointment of the experts of the CEPEJ-GT-QUAL /

Nomination de experts du CEPEJ-GT-QUAL

§  Information on the on-going activities / information sur les activités en cours

f.   Cooperation with the Pilot courts / Coopération avec les tribunaux-référents

§  Invovlement of the pilot courts in the work of the CEPEJ /

Implication des tribunauwx-référents dans les travaux de la CEPEJ

§  3rd Plenary meeting of the Network / 3^ème réunion plénière du Réseau

e.  Assistance activities / Activités d'assistance

§  Request from Bulgaria / Demande de la Bulgarie

§  Other requests / Autres demandes

f.   European Day of Justice and "Crystal Scales of Justcie" /

Journée Européenne de la Justice et "Balance de Cristal"

g.  Study Session 2008 / Session d'étude 2008

h.  Representation of the CEPEJ in other meetings /

Représentation de la CEPEJ dans d'autres réunions

4.    Conclusions of the Special session for the  5th anniversary of the CEPEJ / Conclusions de la Session spéciale pour le 5ème anniversaire de la CEPEJ

5.    Mediation: drafting of proposals for the CDCJ and the CDPC /

Médiation: préparation de propositions pour le CDCJ et le CDPC

6.    Preparation of the Activity Report 2007 / Préparation du Rapport d'activités 2007

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

8.    Setting up of a CEPEJ's Scientific Network /

Mise en place d'un Réseau scientifique de la CEPEJ

9.    Individual complaints submitted to the CEPEJ concerning justice matters /

Plaintes individuelles adressées à la CEPEJ sur des questions de justice

10.  Any oth business / Questions diverses