http://www.coe.int/documents/5492562/7044393/COE-Logo-Fil-BW.png/bb17a17e-5308-4fc0-929d-5c4baf3ab99d?t=1371222816000

CCJE-BU(2016)7

Strasbourg, 17 October 2016

BUREAU OF THE CONSULTATIVE COUNCIL

OF EUROPEAN JUDGES

(CCJE-BU)

Report of the 21th meeting

Madrid, 15 June 2016

Document prepared by the Secretariat

Directorate General I – Human Rights and Rule of Law

I.        INTRODUCTION

1.          The Bureau of the Consultative Council of European Judges (CCJE-BU) held its 21st meeting in Madrid on 15 June 2016, at the invitation of the General Council for the Judiciary of Spain. The meeting was chaired by Mr Nils ENGSTAD (Norway), President of the CCJE.

2.          The following members of the Bureau were present:

·           Mr Duro SESSA (Croatia), Vice-President of the CCJE;

·           Ms Nina BETETTO (Slovenia);

·           Mr Jean-Claude WIWINIUS (Luxembourg).

3.          The agenda is set out in Appendix I.

II.       COMMUNICATION BY THE PRESIDENT, MEMBERS OF THE BUREAU AND THE SECRETARIAT

 

4.          The President and Bureau members expressed their appreciation for the invitation of the General Council for the Judiciary of Spain and its generous support for this, as well as for the Working Group meeting in Madrid, and proceeded to provide information on their recent missions involving presentations on the CCJE standards and activities.

5.          The President informed, in particular, about his participation in the Conference on the Council of Europe Strategy for the Rights of the Child organised within the framework of the Bulgarian Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers on 5-6 April 2016 in Sofia. The Strategy for the Rights of the Child (2016-2021), recently adopted by the Council of Europe[1], was the main topic of this event. The participants discussed a comprehensive approach, with involvement of all relevant institutions, for the implementation of the Strategy focusing on its five priority areas.

6.          The Bureau members were also informed by the President about his participation in the High-Level Conference entitled “Strengthening judicial independence and impartiality as a pre-condition for the rule of law in the Council of Europe member states” organised also within the framework of the Bulgarian Chairmanship in Sofia on 21-22 April 2016. The participants involved the Ministers of Justice and representatives of the judiciary who debated the current state of affairs including challenges for the independence and impartiality of the judiciary. In particular, the Plan of Action on strengthening judicial independence and impartiality in member states, prepared at the initiative of the Secretary General and recently adopted by the Council of Europe[2], was presented at this event. The participants exchanged opinions on ways of  implementation of the Plan of Action and various measures to be taken, such as the legislative amendments, practical arrangements, improvements of mechanisms and procedures and public awareness.

7.          The President also informed about his participation in the conference of the European Network of Councils for the Judiciary (ENCJ) on 1-3 June 2016 in Warsaw. The conference discussed issues relating to the standards regarding non-judicial governance, lay members in the Councils for the Judiciary, their selection etc. There was no conflict with CCJE Opinion No. 10(2007) on the Council for the Judiciary at the service of society. The ENCJ was very specific concerning the composition of the Councils for the Judiciary and it used the CCJE Opinion. The conference participants also adopted the “Warsaw declaration on the Future of Justice in Europe”.

8.          Mr SESSA and Ms BETETTO also presented their activities, in particular, several expert missions, including within the framework of co-operation programmes carried out by the Council of Europe, where they presented the CCJE standards and advocated their application, as well as the standards developed by the European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice (CEPEJ), focusing on pilot courts.

9.          In this regard, the Secretariat informed that in 2016, the new edition of the CEPEJ Evaluation Report entitled “European judicial systems: efficiency and quality of justice” would be published, which would be in a significantly developed format, compared to the previous report of 2014, and the focus would be made on key data such as judges, court staff, organisation of the judicial systems, other key actors, courts’ performance, as well as the information technologies and their impact on the work of judges. The dynamic interactive database would be set up and made publicly accessible. It would enable, in particular, to make comparisons among member states. The users – public at large - would be able to make their own choices for studies using this database: it would be an interesting tool for everybody.

10.          Mr WIWINIUS reminded the Bureau members that he would take up, on 2 August 2016, his new duties as President of the High Court of Luxembourg, acting at the same time as President of the Constitutional Court, and therefore he would not be able to continue as a member of the CCJE Bureau in 2017. 

III.      PREPARATION OF THE CCJE OPINION No. 19 ON THE ROLE OF COURT PRESIDENTS

11.          The members of the Bureau briefly discussed the draft Opinion No. 19 (document CCJE(2016)2Prov4) prepared by Mr SESSA and the Secretariat, in which all  comments of the members of the Bureau, the Working Group and the Secretariat, submitted prior to the Working Group meeting, had been integrated. The members of the Bureau praised this document, however noted that, taking into account the complex nature of the subject, re-defining certain concepts and making more precise some key points, such as, for example, the issue of participation of court presidents in the work of Councils for the Judiciary and other bodies, would be needed.

12.          This and other relevant issues would be discussed in general during the forthcoming Working Group meeting on the basis of the above-mentioned draft. Then the draft will be discussed in detail, paragraph by paragraph, resulting in a text which would respond to the concerns expressed by the Bureau and Working Group members.

IV.     OTHER WORK OF THE CCJE

13.          The adoption and publication of the report prepared jointly by the CCJE Bureau and the Bureau of the Consultative Council of European Prosecutors (CCPE) at the initiative of the Secretary General on the “Challenges for judicial independence and impartiality in the member states of the Council of Europe”[3] was discussed and praised. The members of the Bureau agreed that the report constituted a comprehensive inventory of the challenges currently facing the judiciary in member states.

14.          The recently adopted Plan of Action on strengthening judicial independence and impartiality[4] was based, among other sources, on this report. The Bureau members examined the possible CCJE contributions to the process of implementation of the Plan of Action and agreed that the CCJE Bureau in particular and the CCJE members in general should continue providing expert advice on draft legislation in member states and highlighting relevant CCJE standards in response to specific situations endangering the independence of judges and judicial power. The Plan of Action would be sent for information and possible follow-up to all CCJE members, and it would be discussed, among other topics, during the CCJE plenary meeting on 8-10 November 2016. The Secretariat, on its part, would keep informed the Bureau about all relevant developments as regards the implementation, in particular within the framework of project activities, bilateral or multilateral, requiring an input by the CCJE experts.

15.          The members of the Bureau also discussed the Report of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe – 2016 on the “State of democracy, human rights and the rule of law - a security imperative for Europe”, and CCJE contributions to its follow-up in line with the contributions to the follow-up for the Plan of Action mentioned above.

16.          The members of the Bureau proceeded to discuss the biannual CCJE situation report on the judiciary and judges in the Council of Europe member states. The last report was prepared and published in 2015, thus the next edition of the report would be expected in 2017. In particular, it was discussed whether, in view of the above-mentioned report of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, as well as of the Plan of Action, to make the situation report an annual exercise.

17.          The members of the Bureau also raised a question whether only the problems should continue to be reported in the situation report, or it might be a good development also to start reporting the progress, if any, vis-à-vis the previously reported problems. In this regard, the corresponding questionnaire would need to be prepared.

18.          The Bureau members noted that the CCJE was not able to engage in any fact-finding in the field due to lack of operational capacities, and discussed whether more resources may be needed for a properfollow-up to the Report of the Secretary General and the Plan of Action.

19.          Issues related to the collection of information for the next edition of the situation report were also examined. As previously, the CCJE would continue to rely on the information provided by its members and observers, as well as on the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights and findings of the Council of Europe monitoring bodies.

20.          It was decided to continue the discussion on these important aspects during the CCJE plenary meeting on 8-10 November 2016.

V.        OTHER ITEMS

21.          The Bureau discussed the modalities of the forthcoming meeting of the Working Group on 15-17 June 2016 in Madrid as well as other events planned by the General Council for the Judiciary of Spain on the occasion of the CCJE meetings.

APPENDIX I

AGENDA / ORDRE DU JOUR

1.         Opening of the meeting / Ouverture de la réunion

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

3.         Communication by the President, members of the Bureau and the Secretariat / Communication du Président, des membres du Bureau et du Secrétariat

4.         Preparation of the 31st meeting of the CCJE-GT and the draft Opinion No. 19 on « the role of court presidents » / Préparation de la 31ème réunion du CCJE-GT et du projet de l’Avis No. 19 sur « le rôle des présidents de tribunaux »

5.         Discussion of the Report by the Secretary General of the Council of Europe – 2016 on the “State of democracy, human rights and the rule of law - a security imperative for Europe”, and follow-up to the joint report of the Bureaus of the CCJE and CCPE : “Challenges for judicial independence and impartiality in the member states of the Council of Europe”/ Discussion du Rapport établi par le Secrétaire Général du Conseil de l'Europe - 2016 sur la « Situation de la démocratie, des droits de l'homme et de l'Etat de droit - un impératif pour la sécurité de l'Europe » et le suivi du rapport conjoint des Bureaux du CCJE et du CCPE : « Défis pour l’indépendance et l’impartialité du système judiciaire dans les États membres du Conseil de l’Europe »

6.         Other work of the CCJE / Autres travaux du CCJE

7.         Any other business / Divers


[1] Adopted at the 1249th meeting of the Committee of Ministers on 2 March 2016 (document CM(2015)175final).  

[2] Adopted at the 1253rd meeting of the Committee of Ministers on 13 April 2016 (document CM(2016)36final).  

[3] Published on 24 March 2016 on the CCJE and CCPE websites (document SG/Inf(2016)3rev).

[4] See para 6 of the present report.