Strasbourg, 23 January 2014
CEPEJ-BU(2014)4
EUROPEAN COMMISSION FOR THE EFFICIENCY OF JUSTICE
(CEPEJ)
23rdBureau meeting
Paris, 23 January 2014
MEETING REPORT
Report drawn up by the Secretariat
General Directorate of Human Rights and the Rule of Law
1. The Bureau of the European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice (CEPEJ) held its 23rd meeting in Strasbourg on 23 January 2014, with Mr John STACEY (United Kingdom), President of the CEPEJ, in the chair.
2. The following members of the Bureau were also present:
§ Mr Georg STAWA (Austria), Vice-Chair of the CEPEJ;
§ Mr Irakli ADEISHVILI (Georgia), Member;
§ Mr Audun BERG (Norway), Member.
3. The agenda is set out in the Appendix.
1. Information for the members of the Bureau and of the Secretariat
4. The Bureau was informed that, owing to recent events, the Committee of Ministers had decided to suspend all Council of Europe activities in Ukraine.
5. Georg STAWA informed the Bureau of the various events he had attended or would soon be attending: the final conference of a co-operation activity taking place in Russia with the Department for the Execution of Judgments in December 2013, the Conference on E-justice in Vienna in January 2014 and, a Conference organised by the IMF in March 2014.
6. The Secretariat said that the next plenary meeting of the CEPEJ would take place in Baku (Azerbaijan) on 3 and 4 July 2014, in the context of the chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers.
2. Implementation of the 2014 programme of activities
Organisation of meetings
7. The meeting schedule can be consulted on the CEPEJ website.
8. The full composition of working groups for 2014, as adopted by the Bureau, is set out in the Appendix. It was agreed that a number of former members might be invited as scientific experts, where appropriate.
Evaluating European judicial systems
9. The Secretariat took stock of the replies to the Scheme for evaluating judicial systems. The pace of replies was encouraging. The meeting schedule remained the same. Members were reminded that the report was due to be adopted in July 2014 and published in September 2014. No specific event had yet been decided on for the official publication: for the time being only a press conference had been scheduled for 17 July in Paris.
10. With regard to the next evaluation scheme, questions concerning ITC should be reviewed as they were no longer adapted to the current development of technologies in courts.
11. The Bureau reported on the recruitment of a statistician: the necessary budget had been earmarked for 4 years and a recruitment procedure was in progress but was causing some difficulty. The Bureau said that it would like to have the services of a statistician as quickly as possible; otherwise it might not be possible to complete the evaluation.
12. Peer evaluation visits on national systems for collecting judicial statistics might take place in Ukraine, Switzerland, Estonia/Lithuania and Israel in 2014.
SATURN Centre
13. The Secretariat informed the Bureau of the progress made in the work of the SATURN Centre. Court coaching sessions would be held in Malta in June and in Croatia in the course of the year.
Quality of justice
14. The Bureau was also informed of the developments in the context of CEPEJ-GT-QUAL. Progress needed to be made in defining quality indicators. The Bureau suggested that GT-EVAL make a proposal to GT-QUAL, with the help of the chairs of the Steering Group of the SATURN Centre. The chairs could be invited to the next CEPEJ-GT-EVAL meeting for half a day. The Bureau also pointed out that the deadline for submitting comments concerning the quality indicators was the end of February.
Co-operation with the European Union
15. The Secretariat informed participants of the state of work concerning the Scoreboard. The Bureau congratulated the experts, Christel Schurrer and Adis Hodzic, for the vast and excellent work already carried out in very difficult time conditions, given that the initial project had been sent to the European Commission on 20 January whereas the replies to the evaluation scheme had only been sent in by states on 31 December 2013.
16. The Bureau reiterated its support for this activity, which strengthened the CEPEJ’s position as a unique reference body in the evaluation of judicial systems in Europe and made constructive co-operation with the European Commission possible.
European Day of Justice and Crystal Scales of Justice
17. The Bureau once again took note of the European Commission’s decision not to continue its involvement in the organisation of the Crystal Scales of Justice and confirmed that the CEPEJ would go ahead alone in organising a new edition of the Crystal Scales in the context of the next European Day of Justice. The Bureau was invited to make comments on the amended rules for the award of the prize. A call for candidatures would soon be launched as would a call for candidatures for the jury.
4. Co-operation programmes
Jordan
18. The Secretariat informed the Bureau that the joint Council of Europe – European Union co-operation programme for Jordan in the field of court management had been launched. An expert mission would be sent to Amman from 28 to 31 January with the participation of CEPEJ experts Jean-Paul Jean, Audun Berg and Francesco Depasquale.
Morocco and Tunisia
19. The Secretariat reported on the very positive progress made in the “South” programme concerning court management in Morocco and Tunisia. The CEPEJ’s teams of experts had established very good contacts, which were helping them to make constructive progress in co-operating with the ministries of justice and the three pilot courts designated in each of these countries. The adoption of the Constitution in Tunisia had made it possible to make further progress.
Albania
20. The joint Council of Europe – European Union co-operation programme in the field of court management, which follows on from the CEPEJ training programme at Tirana District Court, had been launched at the beginning of the year for a period of two years. Jacques Bühler and Jon Johnsen were the CEPEJ experts for this programme. Local legal experts and a team of managers are currently being recruited to run the programme together with the CEPEJ experts.
Turkey
21. The joint programme for court management in Turkey was completed in October 2013. The Council of Europe experts, the Turkish beneficiaries and the European Union were all very satisfied with the programme. The latter part of the programme had to a very large extent focused on the tools proposed by the CEPEJ, in particular the work of the SATURN Centre. A follow-up activity was being envisaged in the context of co-operation with the Swedish authorities (SIDA), but the future of the discussions would depend on developments in the political situation in Turkey concerning the composition and powers and responsibilities of the High Council of Judges and Prosecutors.
Fundamental Rights Agency – Report on access to justice
22. The Bureau reaffirmed its backing for co-operation between the CEPEJ and the EU Fundamental Rights Agency in preparing a handbook on access to justice. It suggested that CEPEJ-GT-QUAL should assist the CEPEJ in supervising this work.
Targeted co-operation
23. The Bureau members held an exchange of views on how to deal with the specific problems encountered in courts and on which the CEPEJ was consulted, for example, the digital recording of hearings. These were often problems which existed in different states and it would be useful to organise the exchange of information and good practices on such subjects. The Secretariat suggested reactivating the CEPEJ’s electronic discussion forum for this purpose and/or to launch regional or multilateral activities on subjects identified as being of common interest for a number of states
24. The Bureau suggested that CEPEJ-GT-QUAL examine the question of the digital recordings of hearings more closely. It was agreed that there should be a brief sounding out of opinions on this subject at the next plenary meeting of the CEPEJ.
Representation of the CEPEJ at other meetings
25. A growing number of members and experts of the CEPEJ were taking part in the various fora concerning public policies of justice in Europe and beyond. The Bureau welcomed this growing awareness of the CEPEJ, which was the outcome of the practical work gradually being undertaken. However, it pointed out that, given the number of requests for their participation, it was important to target appropriate fora and to enlarge the circle of participants on behalf of the CEPEJ.
26. The Bureau instructed the Secretariat to arrange for the CEPEJ to be represented on other Council of Europe committees by either a member of the CEPEJ or by the Secretariat on a case by case basis and depending on the agenda.
27. With a view to encouraging more CEPEJ members to take part in these activities, the Bureau suggested that members who wished to take part in an activity should initially be invited as observers. Another possibility would be to prepare a set of information items clearly presenting the CEPEJ and to organise an event to foster such participation and explain the role of the members of the CEPEJ in this type of forum. It was therefore proposed that the experts should take part in such events in teams of two comprising one experienced member and another beginner.
28. The Bureau also proposed to hold training sessions for members prior to the meeting.
Request for observer status with the CEPEJ and CEPEJ-GT-QUAL from the European Expertise and Experts Institute
29. The Bureau proposed that the European Expertise and Experts Institute be granted observer status with the CEPEJ. It instructed the Secretariat to organise a consultation of CEPEJ members by electronic exchange so that the Institute could be invited to the next plenary meeting.
30. The Bureau also agreed to invite the Institute to participate in the meetings of CEPEJ-GT-QUAL as observer whenever the agenda dealt with the question of judicial experts.
3. Preparation of the 2012 – 2013 Activity Report
31. The Bureau instructed the Secretariat to prepare the draft 2012 - 2013 activity report on the basis of preceding reports. The draft would be sent by e-mail to the Bureau members for approval before being submitted to the 23rd plenary meeting of the CEPEJ.
4. Individual complaints lodged with the CEPEJ with regard to judicial issues
32. The Secretariat said that it had not received any specific complains for examination by the Bureau.
Appendix 1
AGENDA / ORDRE DU JOUR
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 2014 Activity programme /
Mise en oeuvre du Programme d’activité 2014
a. Calendar of the meetings / Calendrier des réunions
b. Appointment of the experts of the Working Groups /
Nomination des experts des Groupes de travail
§ CEPEJ-GT-EVAL
§ SATURN Centre / Centre SATURN
§ CEPEJ-GT-QUAL
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
§ Statistician / Statisticien
§ Timetable for the 2012 – 2014 evaluation cycle /
Calendrier des travaux pour le cycle d'évaluation 2012 - 2014
§ Peer review cooperation process (Israel, Estonia, Lithuania, Switzerland, Ukraine) /
Processus de coopération à travers une évaluation par les pairs (Israël, Estonie, Lituanie, Suisse, Ukraine)
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
§ Organisation of the work to define, with the CEPEJ-GT-EVAL, indicators of quality of justice / Organisation du travail pour la définition avec le CEPEJ-GT-EVAL d’indicateurs de qualité de la justice
f. Co-operation with the European Union / Coopération avec l’Union européenne
§ Scoreboard
§ Situation of the answers / Situation des réponses
§ Situation of documents already transferred to the European commission /
Situation des documents déjà transmis à la Commission européenne
§ Timetable for future activities / Calendrier des travaux à venir
§ CEPEJ co-operation programmes / Programmes de coopération de la CEPEJ :
§ Strengthening democratic reform in the southern neighbourhood : Morocco, Tunisia and Jordan /
Renforcer la réforme démocratique dans les pays du voisinage méridional : Maroc, Tunisie et Jordanie
§ Efficiency of justice in the countries of the Eastern Partnership /
Efficacité de la justice dans les pays du partenariat oriental
§ Management of the Courts : Albania / Gestion des tribunaux : Albanie
§ European Day of Justice and "Crystal Scales of Justice" /
Journée Européenne de la Justice et "Balance de Cristal"
· Drafting of a handbook on access to justice in co-operation with the « Agence des droits fondamentaux » /
Préparation d’un manuel sur l’accès à la justice avec l’Agence des droits fondamentaux
g. Targeted co-operation / Coopération ciblée
h. Representation of the CEPEJ in other meetings /
Représentation de la CEPEJ dans d'autres réunions
4. Request to obtain observer status towards the CEPEJ and the CEPEJ-GT-QUAL by the “european expertise and experts institute” /
Demande d’obtention du statut d’observateur auprès de la CEPEJ et du CEPEJ-GT-QUAL par l’Institut européen de l’expertise et de l’expert
5. Individual complaints submitted to the CEPEJ concerning justice matters /
Plaintes individuelles adressées à la CEPEJ sur des questions de justice
6. Any other business / Questions diverses
Appendix II
Working group on Evaluation of Judicial Systems
(CEPEJ-GT-EVAL)
2014-2015
1. Working Group members
ü Ramin GURBANOV, Chief of reforms division, General department of organisation and supervision, Co-ordinator of Judicial Modernisation Project, Ministry of Justice, Azerbaijan – CEPEJ member
ü Adis HODZIC, Senior Advisor for Statistics, Secretariat of the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council of BiH, Bosnia and Herzegovina
ü Jean-Paul JEAN, Prosecutor ath the Court of Cassation, Associate Professor at the University of Law, Poitiers, France
ü Stéphanie MOUROU VIKSTRÖM, Senior judge at the first instance Court, Monaco
ü Georg STAWA, Head of Department Pr 8, Projects, Strategy and Innovation, Federal Ministry of Justice, Austria - Vice-President of CEPEJ
ü Frans VAN DER DOELEN, Programme Manager of the Department of the Justice System, Ministry of Justice , Netherland - CEPEJ member
2. The following persons can be invited as scientific experts according to the needs
ü Beata GRUSZCZYŃSKA, Researcher at the Institute of Justice, Ministry of Justice, Poland
ü Munira DOSSAJI, Principal Operational Research Analyst Strategy and Innovation Team,United Kingdom
3. The following Observers will attend the Working Group meetings
ü European Union of Rechtspfleger (EUR), represented by Vivien WHYTE
4. The President of the CEPEJ can attend the working Group meetings.
5. The following authorities are invited to attend the Working Group meetings
ü European Union institutions
1. Steering Group members
ü Irakli ADEISHVILI, Chairman, Chamber of Civil Cases, Tbilisi City, Georgia – CEPEJ member
ü Ivana BORZOVA, Head, Department of Civil Supervision, Ministry of Justice, Czech Republic – CEPEJ member
ü Jacques BÜHLER, Deputy Secretary General, Federal court,Switzerland – CEPEJ member
ü Ivan CRNCEC, Assistant Minister, Croatia, CEPEJ member
ü Franscesco DEPASQUALE , Legal advisor to the Director General (courts), Malta - CEPEJ member
ü Giacomo OBERTO, Judge, First instance court of Torino (civil court),Italy
2. The following persons can be invited as scientific experts according to the needs
ü Marco FABRI, Director, Research Institute on judicial systems, Research National Council, Bologna, Italy
ü Jon JOHNSEN, Professor in Law, Faculty of law, University of Oslo, Norway
3. The following Observers will attend the Steering Group meetings
ü European Union of Rechtspfleger (EUR), represented by Michel CRAMET
4. The President of the CEPEJ can attend the Steering Group meetings.
5. The following authorities are invited to attend the Steering Group meetings.
ü European Union institutions
ü World Bank
1. Working Group members
ü Joao ARSENIO DE OLIVEIRA, Legal Advisor, General Directorate on political issues, Ministry of justice, Portugal – CEPEJ member
ü Fabio BARTOLOMEO, Director General of statistics, Ministry of Justice, Italy – CEPEJ member
ü Anke EILERS, Judge, Appeal Court of Köln, Germany
ü Nikolina MIŠKOVIĆ, Judge, Commercial Court of Rijeka, Croatia
ü François PAYCHERE, President of the “Cour des comptes” of the Republic and canton of Geneva, Switzerland
ü Ioannis SYMEONIDIS, Judge, Court of Appeal and Professor at the Law School, University of Thessaloniki, Greece
2. The following persons can be invited as scientific experts according to the needs
ü Gilles ACCOMANDO, President of First instance court, Avignon, France
ü Yinka TEMPELMAN, Quality Manager of the Dutch Council for the judiciary, the Netherlands
ü John MARSTON, Former President of the High Court of Enforcement officer of England and Wales, United Kingdom
3. The following Observers will attend the Working Group meetings
ü European Institute of Expertise and Experts (EEEI), represented by Jean-Raymond LEMAIRE
ü European Network of Councils for the Judiciary (ENCJ), represented by Jean-Marie SISCOT
ü European Union of Rechtspfleger (EUR), represented by Jean-Jacques KUSTER
ü International Union of Judicial Officers (UIHJ), represented by Matthieu CHARDON
4. The President of the CEPEJ can attend the Working Group meetings
5. The following authorities are invited to attend the Working Group meetings
ü European Union institutions
ü World Bank