Strasbourg, 3 June 2008
CEPEJ-GT-EVAL(2008)8
EUROPEAN COMMISSION FOR THE EFFICIENCY OF JUSTICE
(CEPEJ)
Working group on the evaluation of judicial systems (CEPEJ-GT-EVAL) - 10th meeting, 6-7 May 2008 - Meeting report
Report prepared by the Secretariat
Directorate General of Human Rights and Legal Affairs
1. The Working Group on the Evaluation of Judicial Systems (CEPEJ-GT-EVAL) of the European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice (CEPEJ) held its 10th meeting at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg on 6 and 7 May 2008 with Mr Jean-Paul JEAN (France) in the Chair.
2. The meeting followed the meeting of the national correspondents tasked with gathering judicial data in the member states held in Strasbourg on 5 May 2008[1].
3. The agenda and the list of participants appear in Appendices I and II to this report respectively.
1. Information by the Secretariat
4. No specific information was given.
2. Implementation of the 2006 - 2008 evaluation cycle
5. The CEPEJ-GT-EVAL studied and amended the draft report prepared by the scientific experts and the Secretariat on the basis of the member states’ replies. It drew on the comments made by the national correspondents at the working meeting on 5 May. The experts checked the reliability of the basic data presented in the report.
6. It was agreed that, in general, the data from the previous evaluation exercise (2004 data) would not be repeated in the new report, except for the purpose of checking the reliability and consistency of the new data (2006 data). It would be necessary, however, to anticipate questions about significant variations between the two reports in the body of the text and to explain certain discrepancies. Cases where 2004 data had been incorrect and had been corrected by the national correspondent would have to be indicated in the body of the text.
7. It was agreed that the layout of the report should follow that of the previous one as closely as possible. The layout would have to be designed so as to make it usable above all for policy-makers and judicial practitioners.
8. The experts underlined that the presentation of the countries in clusters for certain areas of judicial activity gave the new report added value. That would have to be highlighted.
9. In criminal matters, the distinction between serious cases and minor cases remained tricky, as the various states did not have a uniform approach to the categories. Descriptive comments would have to be included in the section concerned, highlighting the different approaches.
10. The analytical comments on the tables could be expanded in comparison with the previous edition of the report. The major European trends and the conclusions for each of the chapters would have to be enlarged on. A final, concluding chapter would recapitulate the trends.
11. It was agreed that the draft report would be made available to CEPEJ members on the restricted website in the first week of June with a view to its adoption at the 11th plenary meeting (2-3 July 2008). GT-EVAL experts could submit any additional comments to the Secretariat by 23 May 2008.
3. Implementation of the pilot peer evaluation process
12. As the entire meeting had been taken up by the preparation of the report, it was agreed that the item would be discussed at the next meeting of the CEPEJ-GT-EVAL.
4. Intermediate process through the list of key data
13. It was agreed that the item would be discussed at the next meeting of the CEPEJ-GT-EVAL.
6. Draft CEPEJ guidelines on judicial statistics
14. It was agreed that the item would be discussed at the next meeting of the CEPEJ-GT-EVAL.
7. Co-operation with the European Union
15. The CEPEJ-GT-EVAL was informed that the President of the CEPEJ, Fausto de Santis, and the Secretary of the CEPEJ, Stéphane Leyenberger, would attend the inaugural meeting of the European Union’s Justice Forum in Brussels on 30 May 2008. The forum sought to develop regular exchanges between judicial practitioners in Europe as part of the Hague Programme, one aim of which was the objective and impartial evaluation of justice in Europe with a view to strengthening mutual trust between judicial systems and ensuring proper implementation of Community instruments. The forum had been established in a European Commission communication on 4 February 2008 (DG Justice, Freedom and Security). Co-operation with the CEPEJ was covered in a specific section of the communication (section 2.2), the CEPEJ being identified as the leading body in the evaluation of the operation of justice in Europe.
16. It was agreed that Jean-Paul JEAN would represent the CEPEJ at the European Commission’s next meetings on the evaluation of criminal justice and judicial statistics in that field.
Annexe I
AGENDA / ORDRE DU JOUR
1. Adoption of the agenda / Adoption de l’ordre du jour
2. Information by the Secretariat / Information du Secrétariat
3. Implementation of the 2006 - 2008 evaluation cycle /
Mise en oeuvre du cycle d'évaluation 2006 - 2008
§ conclusions from the meeting with the national correspondents / conclusions de la réunion avec les correspondants nationaux
§ preparation of the draft report / preparation du projet de rapport
4. Implementation of the pilot peer evaluation cooperation process /
Mise en œuvre du processus de coopération à travers une évaluation par les pairs
5. Intermediary procees through the list of key data /
Processus intermédiaire à travers la liste de données clé
7. Draft CEPEJ guidelines on judicial statistics / Projet de lignes directrices de la CEPEJ en matière de statistiques judiciaires
6. Cooperation with the European Union / Coopération avec l'Union européenne
7. Any other business / Questions diverses
Annexe II
List of participants / Liste des participants
Fausto de SANTIS, Directeur Général au sein du Bureau de l’organisation judiciaire, Ministère de la Justice, ROME, ITALIE (President of CEPEJ / Président de la CEPEJ)
Elsa GARCIA-MALTRAS DE BLAS, Procureur, Conseillère à l’Unité d’entraide, Direction Générale des Relations avec l’Administration de la Justice, Ministère de la Justice, MADRID, ESPAGNE
Beata Z. GRUSZCZYŃSKA, Institute of Justice, Ministry of Justice, WARSAW, POLAND
Adis HODZIC, Head of the Budget and Statistics Department, Secretariat High Judicial and Prosecutiorial Council of Bosnia and Herzegovina, SARAJEVO, BOSNIA and HERZEGOVINA
Jean-Paul JEAN, Avocat Général près la Cour d’Appel de Paris, Professeur associé à l’Université de Poitiers, Parquet Général, PARIS, FRANCE (President of the CEPEJ-GT-EVAL / Président du CEPEJ-GT-EVAL)
Georg STAWA, Public Prosecutor, Directorate for Central Administration and Coordination (Dept. PR1), Federal Ministry of Justice, VIENNA, AUSTRIA
Dražen TRIPALO, Judge, Criminal Department, Supreme Court of the Republic of Croatia, ZAGREB, CROATIA
Frans van der DOELEN, Programme Manager of the Department of the Justice System, Ministry of Justice, THE HAGUE, THE NETHERLANDS
COUNCIL OF EUROPE'S MEMBER STATES /
ETATS MEMBRES DU CONSEIL DE L'EUROPE
Tatiana KOBOZEVA, Deputy of Chief in Legal Dept at the Supremet Court, MOSCOW
Konstantin KOSORUKOV, Assistant on Legal Affairs, Permanent Representation of the Russian Federation, STRASBOURG
Yana tsimbalova, Counselor at the Dept. of the apparatus at the Representatiion of the Russian Federation at the ECHR, Ministry of Justice, MOSCOW
EUROPEAN COMMISSION / COMMISSION EUROPEENNE
María-Teresa Bendito Cañizares, Experte Nationale Détachée, Direction Générale de Justice, Liberté et Sécurité, unité C1 (civil), BRUXELLES
OBSERVERS / OBSERVATEURS
European Union of Rechtspfleger / Union européenne des greffiers de justice et Rechtspfleger
Harald Markus WISLCH, Amstgericht München, MUNICH, GERMANY
SCIENTIFIC EXPERT / EXPERT SCIENTIFIQUE
Marta ZIMOLAG, Statistician expert / Expert statisticienne
SECRETARIAT
Directorate General of Human Rights and Legal Affairs /
Direction générale des droits de l’Homme et affaires juridiques(DG-HL) –
Justice Division / Division de la Justice
Fax: +33 3 88 41 37 43 - E-mail: [email protected]
Stéphane LEYENBERGER, Secretary of the CEPEJ / Secrétaire de la CEPEJ, Tel : +33 3 88 41 34 12, e-mail: [email protected]
Muriel DECOT, Co-Secretary of the CEPEJ / Co-secrétaire de la CEPEJ, Tél: +33 3 90 21 44 55, e-mail : [email protected]
Pim ALBERS, Special Advisor to the CEPEJ/ Conseiller spécial auprès de la CEPEJ, Tel: +33 88 41 47 74, e-mail: [email protected]
Guy MAGNIER, Special Adviser to the CEPEJ / Conseiller spécial auprès de la CEPEJ, Tél : +33 3 90 21 45 50 ; e-mail : [email protected]
Jean-Pierre GEILLER, Documentation / Documentation Tel : +33 3 88 41 22 27, e-mail : [email protected]
Sandrine MAROLLEAU, Communication / Communication, Tél: +33 3 90 21 52 08, e-mail: [email protected]
Elisabeth HEURTEBISE, Assistante, Tel : +33 3 88 41 35 54, Fax : +33 3 88 41 37 45, e-mail: [email protected]
Interpreters / Interprètes
Isabelle MARCHINI
Corinne MCGEORGE
Didier JUNGLING