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Consultative Council of European Judges
(CCJE)
The
rule of law is one of the main values upheld by the Council of
Europe and the judiciary is its cornerstone. It was to
strengthen the role of judges in Europe that the Committee of
Ministers set up the Consultative Council of European Judges.
The Consultative Council of
European Judges is an advisory body of the Council of Europe on
issues related to the independence, impartiality and competence
of judges. It is the first body within an international
organisation to be composed exclusively of judges, and in this
respect, it is unique in Europe.
By establishing the Consultative
Council of European Judges, the Council of Europe highlighted
the key role of the judiciary in exploring the concept of democracy and the rules by which it operates. |
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Specialisation
of judges
The CCJE terms of reference for 2012 and 2013 were
approved by the Committee of Ministers on 24 November
2011. The CCJE will prepare and adopt, in 2012, an
opinion on the specialisation of judges. The composition
of the working party entrusted with the preparation of
this opinion was approved during its plenary meeting,
from 7 to 9 November 2011. In 2013, the CCJE will
consider relations between judges and lawyers and the
concrete means to improve the efficiency and quality of
judicial proceedings, namely as regards judicial time
management, taking into account, inter alia, the
relevant work of the European Commission for the
Efficiency of Justice (CEPEJ). To prepare this opinion,
an international Conference on this theme should be
organised at the end of 2012.
2012-2013 Terms of reference
Composition of the working party
Questionnaire sent to member States on the
Specialisation of judges
Preliminary work and replies from the member States
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The
CCJE publishes a Situation report on the judiciary and
judges in the different member states
In the framework its task of assisting member states
with issues relating to the status of judges, and in
answer to requests from various bodies and associations
in member states, the CCJE adopted, at its plenary
meeting in November 2011, a Report on the situation in
member states concerning judges. This report has been
submitted to the Committee of Ministers, on 18 January
2012, for a better publication and implementation in the
member States. The aim of the report is to list various
infringements against judges to which its attention had
been drawn. This report will be regularly updated. The
CCJE invites the relevant Council of Europe bodies to be
increasingly aware both of the scale of these
infringements and the impact they may have on the rule
of law and of the need to offer support to member states
enabling them to comply with the Council of Europe’s
standards concerning judges.
Situation report on the judiciary and judges in the
different member states
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International
documents for independent and efficient judiciary in
Macedonian
The Academy for Judges and Public Prosecutors of the
former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia published Editions
I and II containing international documents for independent and
efficient judiciary in Macedonian. These books contain
the Opinions of the CCJE, completed by 63 other selected relevant
international documents which guarantee the independence
and efficiency of the judiciary adopted by different
bodies of the Council of Europe (especially European
Commission for the Efficiency of Justice (CEPEJ)) and
by the United Nations. It contains also selected case-law
of the European Court of Human Rights, which have been
quoted in the CCJE's opinions. These books will be
widely distributed to judges, prosecutors and other legal
professionnals in the Former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia.
Edition I of International documents for independent and
efficient judiciary in Macedonian
Edition II of International documents for independent
and efficient judiciary in Macedonian
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The
CCJE adopts its Opinion on Justice and information
technologies
During its
12th plenary meeting which took place in
Strasbourg from 7 to 9 November 2011, the Consultative
Council of European Judges adopted Opinion No. 14 of the
CCJE entitled "Justice and information technologies".
This text is based on opportunities offered by
information technologies in the framework of the courts
as well as their impact on the judicial system and
process. According to this Opinion, information
technologies (IT) must be a means for legal
professionnals and citizens, to improve justice
management and to reinforce the guarantees of Article 6
of the European Convention on Human Rights. IT should
also strengthen the independence of
judges at all stages of the procedure and not to
challenge this.
Opinion No. 14 on Justice and information technologies
Report of the plenary meeting
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Elections
at the CCJE
Mr Gerhard Reissner (Austria) has been elected President
of the CCJE and M. Paul Maffei (Belgium), Vice-President.
The Bureau of the CCJE welcomes a new member, Mr Bart
Van Lierop (The Netherlands). The mandate of the
new members will start as from 1 Febryary 2012.
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XXVth
Congress of the International Federation for European
Law (FIDE)
The Estonian Association for European Law and the
Estonian Lawyers Association will held its XXVth
Congress of the International Federation for
European Law (FIDE, Fédération Internationale pour le
Droit Européen) in Tallinn from 30 May to 2 June, 2012.
Link to the FIDE
website
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Justice
and new information technologies
The CCJE working group (CCJE-GT), entrusted with the
preparation of Opinion No. 14 on "Justice and new
information technologies" held its meeting in Strasbourg, on 15
and 16 June 2011. It worked on the basis of a draft
which has been prepared by an expert-consultant, Miss
Reiling (Vice-President sector "Bestuursrecht Rechtbank
Amsterdam"). A questionnaire on this subject was also
sent to member States, out of which 36 have replied. The
draft opinion will be examined by the CCJE at its next
plenary meeting (Strasbourg, 7 - 9 November 2011), in
view of its adoption. At this occasion, the Bureau will
pay particular attention to the follow-up which should
be given to the numerous requests for bilateral
assistance he receives.
Meeting report of the Working group (15-16
June 2011)
Preliminary works (replies by country)
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