9 February 2012

CEPEJ(2012)2

“The Crystal Scales of Justice” Prize

The European prize for innovative practice

Contributing to the efficiency and quality of justice

Civil matters

2012 Edition

Rules of the Prize

Application form

Text Box: For information, please consult the following websites:

• http://ec.europa.eu/justice/civil
(European Commission, Directorate General for Justice)

• www.coe.int/CEPEJ 
(European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice/CEPEJ - Council of Europe)


Rules of the Prize – 2012 Edition

Preamble

In 2005, in the framework of the European Day of Civil Justice, the European Commission and the Council of Europe created the European "Crystal Scales of Justice" prize for innovative practices in court organisation and civil justice procedures. The Prize concerned the civil justice field in 2005, 2006 and 2008 and criminal justice in 2009. In 2010, the Prize concerned both; civil and criminal justice. The 2012 edition will be devoted to the civil justice field.

Article 1 – Competition conditions

The 2012 competition is open to courts, associations of legal professionals, prosecutor's offices,  non-governmental organisations or any other entity responsible for justice affairs in the Member States of the European Union or the Council of Europe

The initiatives must have been introduced in order to improve the efficiency of the organisation and procedures of justice systems, particularly for the users of justice, or to improve mutual knowledge and exchange of best practice in the area of justice. They must therefore be innovative practices and their results must be measurable.

An initiative which has been short-listed in the previous editions of the Prize cannot be presented for another edition of the competition. A court, prosecution office, Bar Association or association of legal professionals, non governmental organisations or any other entity responsible for justice affairs can present several initiatives for the same edition of the competition.

Article 2 - Organisation of the competition

The competition is jointly organised by the European Commission's Directorate General for Justice and the Council of Europe's Directorate General of Human Rights and Legal Affairs of the Council of Europe (hereafter “the organisers”).

Article 3 - Entries

The applications shall be submitted, electronically, to one of the addresses indicated below. The deadline for applications is 30 June 2012.

Council of Europe

CEPEJ Secretariat –“Crystal Scales of Justice” Prize

Directorate General of Human Rights and Rule of LawF – 67075 STRASBOURG Cedex

E-mail: [email protected]

or

Crystal Scales of Justice

European Commission

DG Justice

Unit A1

B-1049 BRUXELLES

E-mail: [email protected]

The applications shall be submitted, preferably in English or in French or, where this is not possible, in one of official languages of the European Union.

The applications must include:

1) An application form duly filled in, in accordance with the attached model;

2) A summary of the initiative, in accordance with the attached model;

3) If necessary, a limited number of annexed documents can be included. If those are in an original language other than English or French, a brief summary in English or French should be presented.

Article 4 – Composition of the jury

The jury is composed of 10 members and 1 President, appointed by the organisers.

Article 5 – Selection procedure of the projects

The applications which will fulfil the abovementioned formal criteria will be transmitted to the members of the jury by the organisers.

Each member of the jury shall transmit to the organisers, electronically and prior to the meeting of the jury, a list of the 5 schemes which he or she considers should be pre-selected.

On the basis of this, the organisers will establish a list of 10 pre-selected chemes. The list will be sent to the members of the jury for further examination. The members of the jury shall respect the secrecy of the composition of this list.

The jury will asses the 10 preselected schemes in order to proceed with the selection of prize-winning nitiatives.

The jury will select 4 schemes by secret ballot specifying an order of preference for each of them.

The method applied will be the awarding by each jury member of 4 points to the best cheme he / she selected as winning scheme, 3 points to the second placedscheme 2 points to the third placed scheme and one point to the fourth placed cheme. After counting the points, in the event of a tie a second vote by simple majority can be taken in order to decide between two projects with the same number of points.

The scheme which has received the highest number of points will be awarded the “Crystal Scales of Justice” Prize. The three other schemes will be given a “special mention” by the jury.

The decisions of the jury cannot be appealed.

Article 6 – Criteria for eligibility and selection of projects

The jury must ensure that the schemes fulfil the following criteria of eligibility:

-                      have contributed to the improvement of efficiency and quality of the functioning of the justice system;

-                      deal with judicial procedures or court organisation,

-                      are considered as innovative practices effectively implemented,

-                      can be applied to other jurisdictions or States.

During the selection of the eligible schemes, the jury must also ensure:

-                                              compliance with the objectives of the Prize,

-                      quality of the schemes,

-                      balance between the different legal systems,

-                      balance in the themes dealt with by the schemes.

Article 7 - The Prize Update with no indication of time and place, but retain publicity

The "Crystal Scales of Justice" Prize will be presented to the winner by the European Commission and the Council of Europe.

The representatives of the institutions or organisations which submitted the best four projects will be invited to attend the awarding ceremony.

The organisers undertake to arrange appropriate publicity for the prize-winning initiative and for the three projects that receive a special mention.

Article 8 - Cancellation of the competition

The organisers reserve the right to cancel the competition at any time. If this happens, participants will be individually informed as soon as possible.


ENTRY FORM

(Please note that this file - without the attachments –

once completed should not exceed 6 pages)

To be returned to the European Commission or Council of Europe by 30 June 2012

Crystal Scales of Justice

European Commission

DG Justice

Unit A1

B-1049 BRUXELLES

E-mail:

[email protected]

Fax: (32) 22.97.95.88

CEPEJ Secretariat – Crystal Scales of Justice Competition,

Directorate General of Human Rights and Rules of Law

Council of Europe,

F -67075 STRASBOURG Cedex

Fax: (33) 3.90.21.50.33

E-mail: [email protected]

1.         Details of applicant (institution/organisation)

            Name:      

Address:      

Country:      

Tel.:      

E-mail:      

2.         Represented by

            First name/Surname:      

            Post held:      

            Tel.:      

            E-mail:      

3.         Scheme submitted

            Title:      

            Date of introduction:      

4.         Please attach to the entry form, preferably in English or in French or, where this is not possible, in one of the other official languages of the European Union, a summary of the project (3 pages max), which would contain:

            a.         A description of the scheme

b.         A description of the effects of the scheme

c.         Any possible future additions which might improve the results of the scheme

d.         Any documents, press articles, evidence from members of the public etc. relating to the scheme (with a brief summary in English or French)

5.         Does the scheme have the support of the competent public authorities in your country?  If so, please give details.

     

6.         Do you believe the scheme to be usable in other courts in European states?  Give your reasons.

      

I,      , representing the aforementioned institution/organisation, declare that I am aware of the rules of the competition, with which I undertake to comply.

Done at                                                           Signed

On (date)


SUMMARY

Institution / organisation

Name

Address

Telephone number

E-mail

Represented by

First Name/Surname

Post held

Telephone number

E-mail

Scheme submitted

Title

date of introduction

Scheme :

Operational :

(Please note that this summary should not exceed 3 pages)

Description of the scheme:

     

Effects of the scheme:

     

Future additions to improve the results:

     

Public authority support:

     

Possible application in other European countries:

     

Attachments: