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Strasbourg, 26 October 2016

CEPEJ-GT-EVAL(2016)13

EUROPEAN COMMISSION FOR THE EFFICIENCY OF JUSTICE

(CEPEJ)

WORKING GROUP ON THE EVALUATION OF JUDICIAL SYSTEMS

(CEPEJ-GT-EVAL)

31th meeting

18-19 October 2016

MEETING REPORT

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


INTRODUCTION

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 31th meeting on 18 and 19 October 2016, in Strasbourg under the presidency of Jean-Paul JEAN (France).

2.     The agenda and the list of participants appear respectively in appendices I and II to this report.

I.          INFORMATION BY THE SECRETARIAT AND MEMBERS OF THE GT-EVAL

3.     The President of the Working Group shares the success of the press conference that was held in Paris on October 5, 2016 for the publication of the CEPEJ report "European judicial systems" 2016 Edition (2014 data). Along with the CEPEJ report, have been presented the publication of the CEPEJ dynamic database (CEPEJ-STAT) on the European judicial systems and the thematic report on the use of information technologies in European courts.

II.         SUMMARY OF THE 2014-2016 EVALUATION CYCLE

4.     The Secretariat emphasizes the broader media coverage of the report this year and mentions the most tackled issues concerning the publication of the report (in particular the budget allocated to justice and gender equality).

 

5.     The President reminds the importance of the report dissemination (to the parliamentary commissions, judges' unions, and lawyers of different countries in particular) and the principle of the comparison of comparable countries. He also mentions the possibility of contacting the national correspondents to collect their assessment of the exercise which was just ended. 

6.     The President puts forward the success of the new dynamic database and informs about the conference on cyber justice on December 5 and to which the CEPEJ will attend (following a solicitation of the IHEJ (the institute on advanced studies on justice).

III.        PREPARATION OF THE 2016-2018 EVALUATION CYCLE

7.     The Secretariat presents the timeline for the preparation of the new cycle of the CEPEJ report "European judicial systems" 2018 Edition (2016 data):

-          December 2016: CEPEJ plenary meeting; adoption of the new questionnaire;

-          May-June 2017: opening of the new questionnaire for the national correspondents with a new data collection system;

-          January-June 2018: preparation of the report by the CEPEJ-GT-EVAL and Scientific experts;

-          Autumn 2018: publication of the new report for the 2016-2018 evaluation cycle – Press release planned.

8.     The representatives of the Council of the Notariats of the European Union (CNEU) and the Secretariat agree on the possibility to mention in the next report a paragraph referring to the dynamic website CEPEJ-STAT in order to find data on notaries. This paragraph may be included for all legal professions (lawyers, bailiffs, interprets, experts). The representatives of the CNEU indicate that they are available for elaborating a specific study on notaries for the next cycle. During the meeting, it has been mentioned the possibility of a broader specific study in 2017 on legal professions. The Secretariat will contact the CNEU and the representatives of the other professions in order to organise the drafting of this study.

a.     Preparation of the new questionnaire

9.     The Secretariat informs about the preparation of the 2016-2018 evaluation cycle through the presentation of the modified questionnaire and the upcoming implementation of a new data collection system. These changes intend to improve the questionnaire as regards the wording, consistency and structure of the questions.

10.  The Secretariat agrees to send the amended questionnaire according to the changes proposed during the meeting and the explanatory note also amended to the members of the GT-EVAL before the plenary meeting in December. The members of the GT-EVAL can propose modifications before adoption of the questionnaire and the explanatory note at the plenary meeting.

a.     Selection of a new topic for the thematic report

11.  The Working Group selects the new topic that will be addressed for the next thematic report of the 2016-2018 evaluation cycle. The court users' satisfaction and the execution are the main topics proposed.

12.  The Secretariat notes a preference of the Working Group on the topic linked to court users' satisfaction and equal access to justice. This proposal will be presented to the CEPEJ plenary meeting on December for approval.

IV.       STUDY FOR THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION ON THE FUNCTIONING OF JUDICIAL SYSTEMS IN THE EUROPEAN UNION MEMBER STATES

13.  The Secretariat reminds that the “CEPEJ Study on the functioning of judicial systems in the member States of the European Union” will be delivered in December 2016 to the European Commission. It informs that the 2015 data collection is almost finished. The quality control of data has started and it is progressing satisfactorily. Only the situation of Poland is to be clarified.

14.  Sammy LAURITSEN, the representative from the European Commission expresses the satisfaction of the organisation on the results coming out from the cooperation with the CEPEJ, and the intention to continue this cooperation in the future.

15.  The Secretariat highlights the excellent cooperation with the European Commission, which was also mentioned at the Paris Conference on 5th of October 2016.

V.         PEER EVALUATION COOPERATION PROCESS

16.  The President highlights the importance of the peer review programs which aim is to offer assistance for the countries having difficulties in the data collection process.

a.     Serbia

17.  The Secretariat informs the Working Group about the peer evaluation that took place in Serbia at the beginning of the year. The Secretariat was accompanied by Georg STAWA (Austria), Jaša VRABEC (Slovenia) and Munira DOSSAJI (United-Kingdom). This mission enabled harmonising the Serbian data with the CEPEJ methodology.

 

18.  Jaša VRABEC (Slovenia) highlights the importance for recently appointed national correspondents to have the support from the CEPEJ, such as in Serbia.

b.    Czech Republic

19.  The Secretariat informs about the fact that the CEPEJ has been asked by the Czech Republic for a mission which will take place at the beginning of the year 2017.

20.  The Working Group suggests that the next peer review visits be carried out in Montenegro and/or Greece. A calling for application will be launched at the next plenary meeting.

VI.       DISCUSSION ON THE PILOT PROJECT "TOOL FOR ANALYSING EFFICIENCY AND QUALITY"

21.  The President and the members of the Working Group provide comments on the pilot project “tool for analysing efficiency and quality”, a concise document for each volunteer country including a selection of the most important indicators.

22.  The Working Group insists on the fact that the document must be a living document, according to the experiences of the countries. The Working Group entrusts the Secretariat the need to explore the possibility of integrating some indicators of the pilot project in the dashboard "Overview" of the dynamic website CEPEJ-STAT.

VII.      REVIEW OF THE DEFINITIONS USED BY CEPEJ WORKING GROUPS

23.  The President highlights the importance of the document prepared by CEPEJ-SATURN with the definitions that are being commonly used by the CEPEJ working groups. He insists on the need to focus on the concepts linked to statistical results (timeframes, court activity...) and not on the definitions related to quality.

24.  The Working Group welcomes the proposal of the GT-QUAL to set up an ad hoc group with representatives of the three CEPEJ working groups (CEPEJ-SATURN, CEPEJ-GT-QUAL, CEPEJ-GT-EVAL) in order to collect and improve the definitions used by each working group, and to propose a final version for adoption in plenary. The President asked Laetitia BRUNIN (France), scientific expert to participate in this group.

VIII.     ANY OTHER BUSINESS

25.  The Secretariat introduces four requests made by Angelina Atanasova, by Professor Marneffe (Belgium), by Hélène Pauliat (Université de Limoges), and by Mag. Danijela Milicevic (Austrian Bar) for a collaboration with the CEPEJ about the access to and the use of CEPEJ data. The Working Group is in favour of the request of Ms Angelina Atanasova.  As regards the other requests, it entrusts the Secretariat to clarify the exact scope of the studies and to adhere to the studies' protocol of the CEPEJ.

26.  The President insists on the need to transmit only extracts from the database and provide only guiding assistance for the use of CEPEJ data, without taking part to the substance of the study.

27.  Ramin GURBANOV (Azerbaijan) requests a support from the CEPEJ for a study offering an overview of the judicial systems of countries outside the perimeter of the Council of Europe. A first draft of the study will be presented in six months to the Working Group in order to decide whether the CEPEJ will be involved or not. 


Appendice I

AGENDA

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

2.         Information by the members of the GT and the Secretariat / Information des membres du GT et du Secrétariat

3.         Summary of the 2014 – 2016 evaluation cycle / Bilan du cycle d’évaluation 2014 – 2016

4.         Preparation of the 2016 – 2018 evaluation cycle / Bilan du cycle d’évaluation 2016 – 2018

§          Preparation of the new questionnaire / Préparation du nouveau questionnaire

§     Selection of a new topic for the thematic report / Choix d’une nouveau sujet pour le rapport thématique

§     Presentation of the project of the new data collection tool / Présentation du projet de refonte de l’outil de collecte de données

§     Using the new IT tools to, collect  and process some data annually ? / Utiliser les nouveaux outils TIC pour collecter et traiter certaines données annuellement?

5.            Study for the European Commission on the functioning of judicial systems in the member States of the European Union (Scoreboard of justice) / Etude pour la Commission européenne sur le fonctionnement des systèmes judiciaires dans les Etats membres de l’Union européenne (Tableau de bord de la justice)

§     Study delivered to the European Commission (April 2016) / Etude remise à la Commission européenne (avril 2016)

§     Ongoing work for the forthcoming study (2015 data) / Travail en cours pour l’étude à venir (données 2015)

§     Continuation of the cooperation with the European Commission / Poursuite de la coopération avec la Commission européenne

6.            Peer evaluation cooperation process / Processus de coopération à travers une évaluation par les pairs

§     Peer evaluation in Serbia : reporting / Evaluation par les pairs en Serbie : compte rendu

§     Peer evaluation in Czech Republic : preparation of the mission / Evaluation par les pairs en République tchèque : préparation de la mission

7.            Discussion on the pilot project « tool for analysing efficency and quality » / Discussion sur le projet pilote « un outil d’analyse de l’efficacité et de la qualité »

§     State of the project / Etat du projet

§     Continuation of the project and timetable / Poursuite du projet et calendrier

8.                  Review of the definitions used by CEPEJ Working Groups / Révision des définitions utilisées par les groupes de travail de la CEPEJ

Discussion on the draft compilation of definitions used by CEPEJ Working groups prepared by the SATURN Working group on judicial time management / Discussion sur le projet de compilation des definitions utilises par les groupes de travail de la CEPEJ, prepare par le groupe de travail SATURN sur la gestion du temps judiciaire

9.            Request to access CEPEJ data or request for collaboration – CEPEJ Protocole for studies / Demandes d’accès aux données de la CEPEJ ou demandes de collaboration - Protocole d’étude de la CEPEJ

Ongoing requests / Demandes en cours de traitement

§     Request adressed by Angelina Atanasova / Demande formulée par Angelina Atanasova

§     Request adressed by Professor Marneffe (Belgium) / Demande formulée par le Professeur Marneffe (Belgique)

New requests / Nouvelles demandes formulées

§     Request adressed by Hélène Pauliat (Université de Limoges) / Demande formulée par Hélène Pauliat (Université de Limoges)

§     Request adressed by Mag. Danijela Milicevic (Austrian Bar) / Demande formulée par Maître Danijela Milicevic (Barreau autrichien)

10.          Any other business / Questions diverses


Appendice II

List of Participants / Liste des participants

Experts

Members / Membres

Ramin GURBANOV, Judge, Baku City Yasamal District court, Baku, Azerbaijan, (Vice President of CEPEJ / Vice-Président de la CEPEJ 

Adis HODZIC, Senior Advisor for Statistics High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council of Bosnia and Herzegovina,

Jean-Paul JEAN, Président de chambre, Directeur du service de documentation, des études et du rapport, Chef du service des relations internationales, Cour de Cassation, Paris, France, (President of the GT-EVAL / Président du GT-EVAL)

Simone KREβ, Vice-President, Landgericht Köln, Germany, Apologised / Excusée

Frans Van der DOELEN, Programme Manager of the Department of the Justice System, Ministry of Justice, The Netherlands, Apologised / Excusé

Jaša VRABEC, Senior Judicial Adviser, President’s Office, Supreme Court of the Republic of Slovenia

***

PRESIDENT OF CEPEJ / PRESIDENT DE LA CEPEJ

Georg STAWA, Head of Department Pr 8, Projects, Strategy and Innovation, Federal Ministry of Justice, Vienna, Austria

***

Scientific experts / Expert scientifiques

Julinda Beqiraj, Associate Senior Research Fellow in the Rule of Law, Bingham Centre for the Rule of Law, London, United Kingdom

Laetitia BRUNIN, Adjointe à la sous-directrice de la statistique et des études, Secrétariat général, Ministère de la justice, Paris, FRANCE

Ludivine Roussey, Maître de conférences en sciences économiques, LIRAES (EA 4470), Université Paris Descartes, Sorbonne Paris Cité, France, Apologised / Excusée

***

OTHER EXPERTS / AUTRES EXPERTS

GREECE / GRECE

Konstantinos KOUSSOULIS, Conseiller auprès du Conseil d’Etat, Juge à la Cour suprême administrative,

Athènes

MOROCCO / MAROC

Karim HARROUCHE, Magistrat détaché au secrétariat général, Ministère de la Justice et des Libertés

Abdelghani EL AMINE, Directeur adjoint, Direction des Etudes de la Coopération et de la Modernisation (DECM), Ministère de la Justice et des Libertés

***

Observers / Observateurs

Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe - European lawyers promoting law and justice / Conseil des barreaux  européens - Les avocats européens pour le droit et la justice (CCBE) : Apologised / Excusé

COUNCIL OF THE NOTARIATS OF THE EUROPEAN UNION (CNEU) / CONSEIL DES NOTARIATS DE L’UNION EUROPEENNE (CNUE)

Raul RADOI, Secrétaire général du CNUE, Brussels

Edmond GRESSER, Notaire, France

Geertjan SARNEEL, Meijling & Sarneel Notarissen en Adviseurs, Vestiging Kapelle

EUROPEAN ASSOCIATION OF JUDGES / Association européenne des MAGISTRATS (EAJ)

EUROPEAN EXPERTISE AND EXPERT INSTITUTE / INSTITUT EUROPEEN DE L’EXPERTISE ET DE L’EXPERT (EEEI)

Nico KEIJSER, Vice-Président

European Union of Rechtspfleger / Union européenne des greffiers de justice et Rechtspfleger (EUR)

Jean-Jacques KUSTER, Président honoraire, Strasbourg, France

MAGISTRATS EUROPEENS POUR LA DEMOCRATIE ET LES LIBERTES (MEDEL)

EUROPEAN COMMISSION / COMISSION EUROPEENNE

Sammy LAURITSEN, Policy Officer, Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers, Unit C1 – Justice policy and rule of law, Bruxelles

COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION / CONSEIL DE L’UNION EUROPEENNE

***

COUNCIL OF EUROPE / CONSEIL DE L’EUROPE

Secretariat

Directorate General of Human Rights and Rule of Law (DG I)

Division for the Independence and Efficiency of Justice/

Direction Générale des Droits de l’Homme et Etat de droit (DG I)

Division pour l’indépendance et l’efficacité de la justice

Fax: +33 (0)3 88 41 37 43

e-mail: [email protected]

Hanne JUNCHER, Head of the Justice and Legal Co-operation Department / Service de la cooperation judiciaire et juridique, Tel: +33 (0)3 88 41 24 37, e-mail: [email protected]

Stéphane LEYENBERGER, Executive Secretary of the CEPEJ / Secrétaire exécutif de la CEPEJ, Tel: +33 (0)3 88 41 34 12, e-mail: [email protected]

Yannick MENECEUR, Administrator / Administrateur, Tél: +33 (0)3 90 21 53 59, e-mail : [email protected]

Lidija NAUMOVSKA, Statistician,  Administrator / Administratrice, statisticienne, Tél. : +33 (0)3 88 41 22 49,
e-mail:
[email protected]

Annette SATTEL, Communication, Tél: +33 (0)3 88 41 39 04, e-mail: [email protected]

Félicie DIARD-DETOEUF, Principal  Administrative Assistant / Assistante administrative principale,
Tél. : +33 (0)3 90 21 55 16, e-mail : [email protected]

Elisabeth HEURTEBISE, Assistant/Assistante, Secretariat of the CEPEJ / Secrétariat de la CEPEJ, e-mail: [email protected]  

Blerina BULICA, Trainee : Stagiaire

INTERPRETERS / INTERPRETES

Sara WEBSTER

Nicolas GUITTONNEAU

Gillian WAKENHUT