7 November 2018
EUROPEAN COMMISSION FOR THE EFFICIENCY OF JUSTICE (CEPEJ)
European Day of Justice 2018
Report of events organised in the
Council of Europe member States
By the joint organisation of the European Day of Justice, the European Commission and the Council of Europe support initiatives which aim to bring justice closer to citizens. This Day represents an opportunity to inform citizens of their rights and offer them a better understanding of the functioning of the judicial systems through events organised mainly by courts. On this occasion, the work of the European Commission for the efficiency of justice (CEPEJ) and of the European Commission is highlighted as a real support for justice professionals.
In total, 41 events have been organised throughout 17 different countries. A statistical overview of the events organised by country since 2003 appears in Appendix I.
a) Extent
In some countries, the events have been organised throughout the whole country (example: Belgium, Estonia, the Netherlands and Azerbaijan: free infosessions for citizens).
b) Duration
Some events lasted a whole week (example: thematic lectures from 22 to 28 October in Croatia at faculties of law, nursing homes and other institutions).
c) Commitment
High level personalities have been engaged in the celebration of this day (example: Croatia: International Conference with the participation of the Minister of Justice and Portugal: publication by the Minister of justice of an e-book on civil justice).
d) Public
The public concerned by the events have been citizens (particular events for families that cannot afford advices from notariats in normal circumstances, farmers, institutions hosting aged people, expatriated families), justice professionals, law students and politicians.
e) Media
The events have been published on different media and/or information platforms: Newspapers, radiostations, websites, hotlines, TV channels (example: Broadcast of the President of Chamber of Notaries of Slovenia on national television), social media (example: Council of Europe facebook live and Facebook live of the Italian Notariat and Il sole 24 in Italy)
f) Thematics
The following thematics have been in the light of this year’s European day of justice:
Ø Citizens’ rights:
Some of the events have been organised to provide free legal aid by lawyers (for example in Azerbaijan), especially for families with lower income), along with verbal legal advice, preparation of written applications to various public bodies and other free legal service. The following subjects have been proposed:
- setting up of testaments;
- the new “Protection of Adults Act”;
- the power of attorney;
- questions of real estate ;
- the possibility to get a land register record free of charge ;
- anticipated powers of attorney and living wills ;
- how to plan the succession;
- court open days;
- the security of your assets;
- information sessions about the constitution;
- the accessibility of notarial services to citizens.
Ø Functioning of the judicial system
- Presentations of the role, function and work of notaries in the Republic of Slovenia and the European union;
- governing inheritance statutes after the entry into force of EU succession regulation;
- human trafficking and assessment of the situation regarding migrants and refugees;
- alternative Dispute Resolution – the Cooperation between the Public Sector and Judiciary with the Economic Sector”;
- promotion of mediation activities;
- judicial agreements between France and Germany;
- the European Charter of Fundamental Rights: protecting European citizens from religious and political extremism that threatens Europe";
- the Hague Conference and the Hague Conventions and their application;
- competition about essays on “justice and law” and art work “labyrinth of law”;
- information about court procedures for pilot courts;
- presentation of a Procedural fairness project
- CEPEJ report “Européen judicial systems – efficiency and quality of justice”
The detailed list of events is available on the CEPEJ website; www.coe.int/cepej.
Short overview of the list of events:
|
Austria
Azerbaijan
· 25 October 2018: “open door” day of all the courts in the country and electronic copies of the 2018 edition of the CEPEJ report "European judicial systems - efficiency and quality of justice" have been disseminated among the management of the Ministry of Justice and the Judicial Council, etc.
Belgium
Bosnia and Herzegovina
· 30 October 2018 at the Cantonal court in Novi Travnik:
- Court open day and Round Table: "Human trafficking and assessment of the situation regarding migrants and refugees in Bosnia and Herzegovina"
Croatia
· 23 & 24 October 2018 : Zagreb, Croatian Chamber of Trades and Crafts
Estonia
· 17 October 2018 : Introduction to notary's work and services : consultations in Notaries' offices
"The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia"
· 25 October 2018: Court open days for citizens and presentation of the courts to students. Promotion of the mediation activities in the city center of Skopje
France
Germany
· 9 November 2018 : Bundesamt für Justiz - Bonn
· 25 October 2018: Bavarian Chamber of Notaries: Hotline for citizens
· 24 October in Leipzig, 29 October in Dresden, 5 November in Bautzen, 8 November in Chemnitz: Readers' forums of the Chambre des notaires de la Sachse (presentation followed by a question-and-answer session with citizens)
· 24 October in Marienberg and Oschatz and 25 October in Dresden: Presentation on notarial activity and possibility of information for citizens
· 24 October 2018 : Chamber of Notaries of Rhineland-Palatinate: "Notarial meeting" with the farmers' federation
Italy
Malta
The Netherlands
Poland
Portugal
Slovak Republic
· 22-26 October 2018: Consultations provided via an email address, where citizens can write their questions. They will receive responses during the following weekContact: [email protected]
· 24 October 2018: Presentation of notarial activities on academic grounds, in the form of lectures by representatives of the Notary chamber for students of law faculties.Contact: [email protected]
· 27 September 2018 : Open day - Constitutional Court of the Slovak Republic
Slovenia
· 25 October 2018 :
· 24 October 2018 : presentation of the Procedural fairness project
Spain
· 25 October 2018, General Council of Notaries : Informative campaign in media, internet and twitter
Since the creation of the European Day of Justice by the Council of Europe and the European Commission, among the countries that have been organising events by year Germany has shown to be the most dynamic country (15 events since the beginning, which means every year except in 2005), followed by Italy (14), by Bosnia and Herzegovina (12) and Slovenia (11).
Since 2016, the European Day of Justice has gained a new dynamic among the engagement of countries in the organisation of events to bring justice closer to citizens.
APPENDIX I : EDJ participation rate since its creation (2003) |
|||||||||||||||||
Country |
2003 |
2004 |
2005 |
2006 |
2007 |
2008 |
2009 |
2010 |
2011 |
2012 |
2013 |
2014 |
2015 |
2016 |
2017 |
2018 |
TOTAL since 2003 |
Armenia |
1 |
1 |
2 |
||||||||||||||
Austria |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
8 |
||||||||
Azerbaijan |
1 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
|||||||||||||
Belgium |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
4 |
||||||||||||
Bosnia & Herzegovina |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
12 |
||||
Croatia |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
8 |
||||||||
Cyprus |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
7 |
|||||||||
Czech Republic |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
6 |
||||||||||
Estonia |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
8 |
||||||||
Finland |
1 |
1 |
2 |
||||||||||||||
Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
5 |
|||||||||||
France |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
9 |
|||||||
Germany |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
15 |
|
Georgia |
1 |
||||||||||||||||
Greece |
1 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
|||||||||||||
Hungary |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
4 |
||||||||||||
Ireland |
1 |
1 |
2 |
||||||||||||||
Italy |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
14 |
||
Latvia |
1 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
|||||||||||||
Lithuania |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
8 |
||||||||
Luxembourg |
1 |
1 |
|||||||||||||||
Malta |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
6 |
||||||||||
Norway |
1 |
1 |
2 |
||||||||||||||
Republic of Moldova |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
6 |
||||||||||
The Netherlands |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
6 |
||||||||||
Poland |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
5 |
|||||||||||
Portugal |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
5 |
|||||||||||
Romania |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
8 |
||||||||
Serbia |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
5 |
|||||||||||
Slovenia |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
11 |
|||||
Slovakia |
1 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
|||||||||||||
Spain |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
5 |
|||||||||
Sweden |
1 |
1 |
|||||||||||||||
Switzerland |
1 |
1 |
|||||||||||||||
Turkey |
1 |
1 |
|||||||||||||||
Ukraine |
1 |
1 |
2 |
||||||||||||||
United Kingdom |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
5 |
|||||||||||
TOTAL COUNTRIES |
8 |
6 |
5 |
9 |
9 |
12 |
15 |
15 |
17 |
11 |
14 |
13 |
10 |
19 |
18 |
17 |
|
|||||||||||||