Strasbourg, 15 February 2012

CEPEJ-BU(2012)1

EUROPEAN COMMISSION FOR THE EFFICIENCY OF justice

(CEPEJ)

19th meeting of the Bureau

Paris, 31 January 2012

MEETING REport

Report prepared by the Secretariat

Directorate General of Human Rights and Legal Affairs


1.     The Bureau of the European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice (CEPEJ) held its 19th meeting on 31 January 2012 in Paris, with Mr John STACEY (United Kingdom), President of CEPEJ, in the Chair.

2.     The meeting was also attended by the following Bureau members:

§  Mr Georg STAWA (Austria), Vice-President of CEPEJ;

§  Mr Irakli ADEISHVILI (Georgia), Member;

§  Mr Audun BERG (Norway), Member.

3.     The agenda is appended.

1.   Information by the Bureau members and the Secretariat

4.     The Bureau was informed that, starting from 15 March 2012, Mr Hasan HENDEK, judge, would be seconded to the CEPEJ Secretariat by the Turkish authorities as a special adviser. 

2.   Implementation of the 2012 activity programme  

Organisation of work

5.     The calendar of meetings may be consulted on the CEPEJ website.

6.     The full composition of the working groups for 2012 and 2013, as adopted by the Bureau, is shown in Appendix 2.

7.     The Secretariat reviewed the replies to the Scheme for Evaluating Judicial Systems: a number of countries had still not replied despite the 31.12.11 deadline. Reminders were being sent out. It was pointed out that the report was due to be published in the context of the Council of Europe Conference of Ministers for Justice in Vienna on 20 September 2012. 

8.     A visit to Azerbaijan would take place at the end of April as part of the process of peer evaluation of the collection of judicial statistics. Other member states might be approached in the second half of the year depending on the quality of the replies received under the evaluation exercise.

9.     The Secretariat informed the Bureau of the progress of the SATURN Centre’s work. The emphasis would be placed in particular on developing the court coaching programme on use of the SATURN tools with volunteer courts, and on devising timeframe indicators for different categories of cases.

10.  The Bureau was also informed of developments in CEPEJ-GT-QUAL. In this field too, the emphasis would be on the court coaching programme for conducting satisfaction surveys and on the preparation of guidelines for reform of the judicial map. For this latter activity, the Secretariat had for the first time enlisted the services of the “junior enterprise” of the Institute of Political Studies in Strasbourg, which was tasked with carrying out research into recent reforms of judicial maps. The idea was to test the expertise and research capabilities offered and to strengthen links between CEPEJ and the academic world.  

Lisbon network

11.  The Bureau confirmed the need to invite the Bureau of the Lisbon network to the next CEPEJ plenary meeting. The network should be able to be used as a resource for the implementation of co-operation activities for the training of judges and prosecutors, and in particular the development of training curricula for court management and the efficiency and quality of justice. It should also be possible to consult it on questions relating to the training of judges in the work of CEPEJ, in particular the 2010-2012 evaluation cycle on the functioning of judicial systems.

 

12.  The Bureau was not against the idea of network members also addressing issues specific to judicial training bodies, even if there was no direct link with current CEPEJ activities, since the training of judges was in any case an integral part of the process of improving the efficiency and quality of the public justice service.

Study on the impact of the functioning of justice systems of member states of the European Union on the economic situation of these countries

13.  Georg STAWA and the Secretariat informed the Bureau of the European Commission’s request to CEPEJ to prepare a study on the impact of the functioning of justice systems of member states of the European Union on the economic situation of these countries. This study would be based on the evaluation methodology devised by CEPEJ and the results of the 2010-2012 evaluation of judicial systems. The information gathered in this way would be supplemented by ad hoc data collection, in particular to assess the degree of “business-friendliness” of judicial systems. This would be based in particular on a “scoreboard” proposed by the European Commission and discussed with the CEPEJ Secretariat and experts. 

14.  The European Commission would sign a contract with the Council of Europe and would finance the study to the tune of 200 000 €. The study should be completed by summer 2012. It would be forwarded to the European Union, which would then be responsible for its use. 

15.  Jean-Paul JEAN and Georg STAWA, members of GT-EVAL and the Secretariat had met representatives of the European Commission’s DG Justice in Brussels to discuss in depth the study and the co-operation arrangements. They confirmed the study’s feasibility and the interest for CEPEJ in being entrusted by the European Commission with such a task, which showed that it was recognised as a first-rate reference for evaluation of the functioning of judicial systems in Europe. They pointed out, however, that the exercise would have to be clearly defined vis-à-vis the European Commission in order to respect CEPEJ’s scientific credibility, and also in view of the particularly short deadlines. The scoreboard proposed by the European Commission would have to be reworked in order to restrict it to supplementary data which it was reasonably possible to collect in this context.

16.  In accordance with the decision taken by CEPEJ at its 18th plenary meeting, the Bureau decided to accede to the European Commission’s request and instructed the Secretariat to recruit three scientific experts to prepare the study under the authority of CEPEJ-GT-EVAL. It appointed Georg STAWA to monitor in particular the progress of this work, alongside Jean-Paul JEAN.

European Day of Justice and the Crystal Scales of Justice

17.  A new edition of the Crystal Scales of Justice was to be organised jointly with the European Commission as part of the next European Day of Justice. Contacts were under way with Brussels to work out the details for the organisation of these events.

Targeted co-operation

18.  The Secretariat informed the Bureau that, under the Council of Europe’s neighbourhood policy, a joint programme with the European Union was currently being negotiated for two North African countries, Morocco and Tunisia, which might be joined by Jordan. CEPEJ was likely to be called upon to co-operate with these countries in this context, particularly in order to evaluate the functioning of judicial systems and make recommendations relating to the efficiency and quality of justice on the basis of the CEPEJ tools and methodology. The CEPEJ court coaching programmes might be implemented in those countries.

19.  The Bureau welcomed these developments and agreed that CEPEJ could be closely involved in these initiatives, and stressed that it might be useful if the beneficiary countries requested observer status with CEPEJ.

CEPEJ representation at other meetings

20.  CEPEJ was increasingly called upon to participate in different forums devoted to justice policies in Europe and beyond. The Bureau welcomed this growing reputation, which was the result of the practical work gradually developed by CEPEJ. It pointed out, however, that, in view of the number of requests, it was important to target participation.

21.  The Bureau instructed the Secretariat to make arrangements for CEPEJ to be represented on other Council of Europe committees on a case by case basis, depending on meeting agendas, either by a CEPEJ member or by the Secretariat.

3.   Preparation of the 2011 activity report

22.  The Bureau instructed the Secretariat to prepare the draft 2011 activity report on the basis of the 2010 report. The draft would be emailed to Bureau members for approval before being submitted to the 19th CEPEJ plenary meeting.

4.     Individual complaints submitted to CEPEJ concerning justice matters

23.  The Secretariat said that it had received no specific complaints warranting consideration by the Bureau.


Annexe 1

AGENDA

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

2.     Information by the President of the CEPEJ and the Secretariat /

Informations du Président de la CEPEJ et du Secrétariat

3.     Implementation of the 2012 Activity programme /

Mise en oeuvre du Programme d’activité 2012

a.     Calendar of the meetings / Calendrier des réunions

b.   Appointment of the experts of the Working Groups / Nomination des experts des Groupes de travail

c.     Evaluation of judicial systems / Evaluation des systèmes judiciaires          

§  Situation of the answers to the Evaluation Scheme/ Situation des réponses à la Grille d'évaluation

§  CEPEJ experts / Experts de la CEPEJ

§  Timetable for the 2010 – 2012 evaluation cycle / Calendrier des travaux pour le cycle d'évaluation 2010 - 2012

§  Peer review cooperation process / Processus de coopération à travers une évaluation par les pairs

d.    SATURN Centre / Centre SATURN

§  Information on the ongoing activities / Information sur les activités en cours

e.     Quality of Justice / Qualité de la Justice

§  Information on the ongoing activities / Information sur les activités en cours

f.      Lisbon Network

§  Definition of the modalities of co-operation / Définition des modalités de coopération

g.    Co-operation with the European Union / Coopération avec l’Union européenne

§  Study on the impact of the functioning of justice systems of members States of the European Union on the economic situation of these countries / Préparation d’une Etude sur l'impact du fonctionnement des systèmes judiciaires des Etats membres de l'Union européenne sur la situation économique de ces pays

§  European Day of Justice and "Crystal Scales of Justice" / Journée Européenne de la Justice et "Balance de Cristal"

h.    Targeted cooperation / Coopération ciblée

i.      Representation of the CEPEJ in other meetings /

Représentation de la CEPEJ dans d'autres réunions

4.     Individual complaints submitted to the CEPEJ concerning justice matters /

Plaintes individuelles adressées à la CEPEJ sur des questions de justice

5.     Any other business / Questions diverses


Annexe 2

Composition of the Working groups for 2012 - 2013 as decided by the Bureau of the CEPEJ

Composition des Groupes de Travail pour 2012 - 2013 telle que décidée par le Bureau de la CEPEJ

Working Group on evaluation of judicial systems /

Groupe de travail sur l’évaluation des systèmes judiciaires

(CEPEJ-GT-EVAL)

1. Members of the Working group/ Membres du Groupe de travail

Country / Pays

Name / Nom

Title / Fonction

Poland / Pologne

Beata GRUSZCZYŃSKA 

Institute of Justice, Ministry of Justice

Institut de la Justice, Ministère de la Justice

Azerbaijan/

Azerbaïdjan

,

Ramin GURBANOV

Chief of reforms division, General department of organisation and supervision,
Co-ordinator of Judicial Modernisation Project, Ministry of Justice

Chef de la division des réformes, Département général de l’organisation et de la supervision, coordinateur du projet de modernisation judiciaire, Ministère de la justice

Bosnia and Herzegovina /

Bosnie-Herzégovine

Adis HODZIC

Head of the Budget and Statistics Department in the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council of BiH

Chef du Service du Budget et de la Statistique du Conseil Supérieur de la Magistrature de BiH

France

Jean-Paul JEAN 

Prosecutor, Court of Appeal of Paris, Associated Professor at the Law Faculty of Poitiers

Procureur près la Cour d'Appel de Paris, Professeur associé à la Faculté de droit de Poitiers

Autriche / Austria

Georg STAWA

Head of Department Pr 8, Projects, Strategy and Innovation, Federal Ministry of Justice

Chef du département PR 8, Stratégie et Innovation, Ministère de la Justice

Netherlands / Pays-Bas

Frans  VAN DER DOELEN  

Advisor at the Directorate General for the Administration of Justice and Law Enforcement, Judicial System Department, Ministry of Justice

Conseiller à la Direction Générale de l'administration de la justice et de l'application du droit, Service du système judiciaire, Ministère de la Justice

2. The following experts will also participate in the Working Group, at the expense of their government / Les experts suivants participeront au Groupe de travail aux frais de leur gouvernement

3. The following organisations will also participate in the Working Group as observers / les organisations suivantes participeront au Groupe de travail en tant qu’observateurs

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

Vivien WHYTE

4. The President of the CEPEJ can participate in the Working Group / Le Président de la CEPEJ peut participer au Groupe de Travail.

5. The following bodies are invited to participate in the Working Group as observers / Les instances suivantes sont invitées à participer au Groupe de Travail en tant qu'observateurs:

§  European Union bodies / Instances de l'Union européenne

§  OECD / OCDE


Steering group of the SATURN Centre for judicial time management

Groupe de pilotage du Centre SATURN pour la gestion du temps judiciaire

1. Members of the Steering Committee / Membres du Groupe de pilotage

Country / Pays

Name / Nom

Title / Fonction

Georgia / Géorgie

Irakli ADEISHVILI

Chair of the Civil Chamber of Tbilisi District Court

Président de la Chambre civile du tribunal du district de Tbilissi

Switzerland / Suisse

Jacques BÜHLER

Deputy Secretary General, Swiss Federal Court

Secrétaire Général suppléant, Tribunal fédéral suisse

Malta / Malte

Franscesco DEPASQUALE

Legal Advisor to the Director General (Courts), Legal Office, the Law Courts

Conseiller juridique auprès du Directeur Général (Tribunaux), Bureau juridique, Tribunaux

Norway / Norvège

Jon JOHNSEN

Professor in Law, University of Oslo

Professeur de Droit, Université d'Oslo

Italy / Italie

Giacomo OBERTO

Judge of cassation at the First Instance Court of Torino (Civil Chamber)

Juge de Cassation au Tribunal de Grande Instance de Turin (Chambre civile)

Czech Republic / République tchèque

Jana WURSTOVA

Lawyer, Adviser at Czech Bar Association, CCBE member

Avocat, Conseiller auprès du Barreau tchèque, membre du CCBE

2. The following experts will also participate in the Working Group, at the expense of their government / Les experts suivants participeront au Groupe de travail aux frais de leur gouvernement

3. The following organisations will also participate in the Working Group as observers / les organisations suivantes participeront au Groupe de travail en tant qu’observateurs leurs propres frais

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

Michel CRAMET

4. The President of the CEPEJ can participate in the Working Group / Le Président de la CEPEJ peut participer au Groupe de Travail.

5. The following bodies are invited to participate in the Working Group as observers / Les instances suivantes sont invitées à participer au Groupe de Travail en tant qu'observateurs :

§  European Union bodies  / Instances de l'Union européenne

§  World Bank / Banque Mondiale


Working Group on quality of justice

Groupe de travail sur la qualité de la justice

(CEPEJ-GT-QUAL)

1. Members of the Working group/ Membres du Groupe de travail

Country / Pays

Name / Nom

Title / Fonction

Portugal

Joao ARSENIO DE OLIVEIRA

Judicial Counselor, Directorate General for Justice Policy, Ministry of  Justice

Conseiller juridique, Direction Générale des questions politiques, Ministère de la justice

Italy /Italie

Fabio BARTOLOMEO

Director General of the Department of Statitics, Ministry of Justice

Directeur général des statistiques, Ministère de la justice

Croatia / Croatie

Nikolina Mišković

Rijeka Commercial Court Judge

Juge au tribunal commercial de Rijeka

Switzerland / Suisse

François PAYCHERE

Judge at the Court of Justice of the Repubic and Geneva District

Juge à la Cour de justice de la République et canton de Genève

France

Serge PETIT

Avocat général à la Cour de cassation

Prosecutor at the Court of Cassation

The Netherlands / Pays-Bas

Yianka TEMPELMAN

Bureau for the Quality of the Dutch Council for the Judiciary

Bureau de la Qualité du Conseil de la Justice des Pays-Bas

2. The following experts will also participate in the Working Group, at the expense of their government / Les experts suivants participeront au Groupe de travail aux frais de leur gouvernement

3. The following organisations will also participate in the Working Group as observers / les organisations suivantes participeront au Groupe de travail en tant qu’observateurs

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

Jean-Jacques KUSTER

4. The President of the CEPEJ can participate in the Working Group / Le Président de la CEPEJ peut participer au Groupe de Travail.

5. The following bodies are invited to participate in the Working Group as observers / Les instances suivantes sont invitées à participer au Groupe de Travail en tant qu'observateurs

§  European Union bodies / Instances de l'Union européenne

§  World Bank / Banque Mondiale

§  European Network of Judicial Councils (ENJC) / Réseau Européen des Conseils de la Justice (RECJ)