Strasbourg, 16 December 2011

CCJE(2011)7

Consultative Council of European Judges

(CCJE)

Types of courts/judges	(a) Tick the box if your country have specialised courts/judges in:	(b) If yes to (a), tick the box if they are specialised judges/chambers within a generalist court	(c) If yes to (a), tick the box if they are a separate institution within the general organisation iof the judiciary	(d) If yes to (a), tick the box if they are a separate judiciary forming a system of their own[1]	(e) If yes to (a), tick the box if they have a composition including lay members or only of lay members[2]	(f) If yes to (a), tick the box if they have a territorial competence different from generalist courts (please specify if appropriate)	(g) If yes to (a), tick the box if they apply rules (procedure, evidence, etc.) that are different from those applicable in generalist courts (please specify if appropriate)
Family courts
Juvenile courts
Administrative courts/council of state
Immigration/Asylum
Courts of Account
Military Courts
Tax Courts
Labour/social courts
Courts for agricultural contracts
Consumers’ claims courts
Small claims courts
Courts for wills and inheritances
Patent/copyrights/trademark courts
Commercial courts
Bankruptcy courts
Courts for land disputes
“Cours d’arbitrage”
Serious crimes courts/courts of assize
Courts for the supervision of criminal investigations (e.g. authorising arrest, wire-tappings, etc.)
Courts for the supervision of criminal enforcement and custody in penitentiaries
Other, please specify:

To what extent specialisation of courts is relevant in your system?

     

a)            Does the recruitment procedure take into account the specialised studies accomplished after the university diploma in law? Does it take into account the specialised professional experience? Please specify.

     

b)            Are judges promoted to a higher court, or assigned to a post of chief judge, on the basis of a procedure giving relevance to specialisation? Please specify.

     

c)            May a judge from a generalist court move to a specialised court, or from one specialisation to another:

As to separate court systems:	Within the same court system:
by just filing an application examined on the basis of seniority and other criteria not including previous specialisation?	by showing professional experience?
by resigning from original post and participate to a new recruitment?	by attending specialisation/reconversion courses?
other?	by passing a specialisation exam?

d)            Does the system ensure that all judges may access specialisation (e.g. by giving them the appropriate information)?

     

e)            What are for judges the criteria for access to specialisation?

     

f)             Do financial provisions exist helping judges to transfer to other towns where specialisation may be acquired?

     

g)            Are there access/reconversion courses to specialised functions:

- Yes, within the judicial training institute ?

- Yes, organised by an institution different from the judicial training institute?

- No?

h)            Are there training courses reserved only to specialised judges?

     

i)              Are exchanges of judicial experiences between different specialisations and/or generalist groups of judges organised?

     

j)              Do specialised positions exist in court for organisational purposes only (e.g., judge serving as spokesperson for the court; judge for the development of IT in court; judge co-operating with ADR services, etc.)?

     

k)            If yes, is there a specific training for this type of posts? Please specify.

     

l)             Do specialised judges have a higher compensation than generalist judges? Please distinguish, if relevant, according to whether the specialist judges belong to the same court system or a separate court system (e.g., in some countries, depending on the distinction between ordinary judges and administrative judges).

     

m)          Are there special allowances, or benefits in kind, for specialised judges?

     

n)            Are specialised judges entitled to a preferential access to higher courts? If yes, is such access limited to the specialisation field of the judge concerned?

     

a)            Is the bar and/or professional associations of lawyers organised on a specialised basis in your country? Please specify.

     

 

b)            In order to practice before specialised courts, have lawyers to be specialised (e.g. registered in special bar listings)? 

     

c)            Is public prosecution organised on a specialised basis in your country? Please specify.

     

 

d)            In order to practice before specialised courts, have prosecutors to be specialised (e.g. belong to specialised department of the prosecution service)?

     

e)            Are specialised judges assisted by specialised staff (clerks, technical staff, etc.) ? If yes, is this staff recruited on an ad hoc basis?

     

Is your Council for the judiciary or other another equivalent independent body entrusted with the protection of the independence of judgescompetent for all specialised judges, as for all generalist judges? If not, please specify the specialised judges that are not under the governance of the Council.

     

a)            Are there in your country professional associations of specialised judges?

     

b)            Do specialised judges have separate or common “principles of judicial ethics”[3] with respect to generalist judges? If separate principles apply, please specify (i.e. separate principles needed by exposure of specialised judges to problems affecting juveniles, family problems, labour disputes, etc.).

     

a) Please give your opinion on the advantages and disadvantages of special courts

     

b) Please give your opinion on the advantages and disadvantages of specialisation of judges