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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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 Second meeting of
the CCJE working group
entrusted with the preparation of CCJE Opinion No. 16 on the
relationship between judges and lawyers
The Committee of Ministers has
entrusted the CCJE, in 2013, to adopt Opinion No. 16 on
"the relationship between
judges and lawyers and the concrete means to improve the
efficiency and quality of judicial proceedings". A questionnaire in
view of the preparation of the Opinion has previously
been sent to all CCJE members. The working group entrusted
with the drafting of the Opinion is actually in Rome
(Italy). The
Bureau meeting has held its meeting in the morning of 12 June
2013.
Agenda of the working group meeting
Agenda of the Bureau meeting
Preliminary works - Opinion No. 16 on the relationship
between judges and lawyers
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 Participation
of the CCJE and CCPE in the course for Italian
magistrates on "The European Statute for judges and
prosecutors"
On 1 January 2013, the newly
established School for the Judiciary started to operate
in Italy. This allowed the country to comply with the
Opinions No. 4 and 10 of the CCJE which recommended such
an institution. The School is competent for both initial
and in-service training of judges and prosecutors. Among
the 76 courses offered by the School on a yearly basis,
the course of 23 and 24 May 2013 which took place in
Florence (Italy), devoted to the topic "The European
Statute for judges and prosecutors" focusing on the
Council of Europe instruments defining such statute, and
on the activities of the CCJE and the CCPE. Judges and
prosecutors from Italy, Spain and Bulgaria participated.
Among speakers, there were Raffaele Sabato, former
President of the CCJE, Antonio Mura, President of the
CCPE, Roberto Chenal from the Secretariat of the Council
of Europe, Nina Betetto, Vice-President of the Supreme
Court of Slovenia and member of the Bureau of the CCJE,
Olivier de Baynast de Septfontaines, Prosecutor General
at the Court of Appeal of Douai (France) and former
President of the CCPE. The past President and the
Prosecutor General of the Italian Court of Cassation
were also present.
Programme of the training course
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 Symposium:
The independence of justice in Tunisia before the
adoption of the new Constitution
In the framework of the joint
programme between the European Union and the Council of
Europe "Strengthening democratic reform in the Southern
Neighbourhood", Ms Nina Betetto, Judge, Vice-President
of the Supreme Court of Slovenia and CCJE member, has
been invited to make an intervention on the subject "the guaranties of
independance for judges", on 13 & 14 March 2013 in
Tunis.
Programme [fr]
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 The
Presidents of the CCJE, CCPE and CEPEJ invited by the
Turkish High Council of Judges and Prosecutors
A delegation composed of
Presidents of the Consultative Council of European
Judges (CCJE), of the Consultative Council of European
Prosecutors (CCPE) and of the European Commission for
the Efficiency of Justice (CEPEJ) as well as
representatives of the Secretariat of the Council of
Europe, has been invited by the Turkish High Council of
Judges and Prosecutors to pay a visit to Ankara and
Istanbul on 14-16 January 2013 to assess the progress in
the reforms of the Turkish judicial system.
Picture gallery
Website of the
Turkish High Council of Judges and Prosecutors
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The relationship between judges and lawyers and the
concrete means to improve the efficiency and quality of
judicial proceedings
At its 1127th meeting of 24 November 2011, the Committee of Ministers adopted the terms of reference of the CCJE for 2012 and 2013.
These terms of reference contain also the adoption, in
2013, of an opinion (No. 16) on the relationship between
judges and lawyers and the concrete means to improve the
efficiency and quality of judicial proceedings. The
questionnaire for the preparation of Opinion No. 16 has
been sent to all CCJE members.
Questionnaire for the preparation of opinion No. 16
of the CCJE on the relationship between judges and
lawyers and the concrete means to improve the
efficiency and quality of judicial proceedings.
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 Consultative
Council of European Judges (CCJE) adopts opinion on
specialisation of judges
At its plenary meeting on 5 and 6
November 2012 in Paris, the CCJE adopted its Opinion No.
15 on the specialisation of judges. The adoption of this
opinion stems from the need, recognised at international
level, to adapt to the development of law since the
adoption of new legislation and changing case-law and
doctrine mean that legal science becomes increasingly
vast and complex. However, it is difficult for judges to
master all these fields, while at the same time society
and litigants demand more and more professionalism and
efficiency of them. Specialisation of judges can ensure
that they have the requisite knowledge in their field of
jurisdiction. Specialisation takes the most varied
forms, whether through creation of specialist sections
within courts, or by specialist courts being set up. The
Committee of Ministers will take note of this opinion in
January 2013.
Opinion N° 15 of the CCJE on the specialisation of
judges
Report of the 13th plenary meeting of the
CCJE
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 International
Conference on "How
to better organise the relations between judges and
lawyers in order to improve the provision of justice"
The Consultative Council of
European Judges and the Paris bar Association organised a conference on the theme "How to better
organise the relations between judges andlawyers in
order to improve the provision of justice" on 7
November 2012 in Paris.
Programme
Presentations made during the Conference (incomplete
list)
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Bernard Corboz: The fundamental values common to judges
and lawyers [fr]
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Michèle Jaudel : Common role of the judge and the lawyer
to access to a negociated resolution of disputes
[fr]
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Alain Lacabarats: Juges et avocats répondant aux besoin
des parties ?
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Julia Laffranque: Is there a common ethic to judges and
lawyers?
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Elisabeth Menesguen: I a joint training programme
appropriate ? [fr]
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Raffaele Sabato : Is a joint training programme
appropriate ?
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Bart van Lierop on the question whether lawyers and
judges have “a shared responsibility for the efficiency
of the judicial system
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 The
British Supreme Court quotes CCJE in one of its
judgements
The British Supreme Court quoted
an extract of Opinion No. 12, jointly adopted by the
CCJE and the Consultative Council of European
Prosecutors (CCPE) in 2009, which mentions in its
paragraph 6: "6. The enforcement of the law and, where
applicable, the discretionary powers by the prosecution
at the pre-trial stage require that the status of public
prosecutors be guaranteed by law, at the highest
possible level, in a manner similar to that of judges.
They shall be independent and autonomous in their
decision-making and carry out their functions fairly,
objectively and impartially."
Link to
the judgement
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Appointment of the CCJE rapporteur of the Gender Equality
At the meeting of the CCJE working
Group, held in Strasbourg from 26 to 28 March
2012, the CCJE rapporteur of the Gender
Equality, Bart Van Lierop (The Netherlands) has
been appointed.
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 Meeting
of the working group of the CCJE
The working group of the CCJE entrusted with the
preparation of Opinion No. 15 on the specialisation of
judges held its meeting from 26 to 28 March. On
the basis of the replies received from the member States
to a questionnaire and of a report from the Italian
expert, Ms Giuliana Civinini, the CCJE-GT members
prepared a detailed structure of the Opinion during the
meeting. On this occasion, the rapporteur of the Gender
Equality, Bart Van Lierop (The Netherlands) has also been appointed. The Bureau of the CCJE met in the morning of 26 March 2012.
Agenda
of the meeting of the working group
Agenda of the meeting of the Bureau
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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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Documentation
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 2013
Calendar
2012-2013 Terms of reference
Action plan
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SEEN IN
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All articles,
releases, conferences, round tables...
The press
La semaine juridique (France) - General edition of 3
December 2012 (LexisNexis SA) - 3 questions to Gerard
Reissner, President of the CCJE
The British Supreme Court quotes CCJE in one of its
judgements (June 2012)
Found in translation: Some remarks on
International co-operation between Judges - Bart van
Lierop (09/2011)
Recent Council of Europe instrument on independence and
responsibility of judges -by Raffaele Sabato - in Foro
italiano (05/2011) [it]
...All
press relases on the publication of the Magna Carta
Other events
Course for Italian magistrates on "The European Statute
for judges and prosecutors", Florence (Italy), 23 & 24
May 2013
Symposium:
The independence of justice in Tunisia before the
adotpion of the new Constitution, 13 & 14 March 2013,
Tunis (Tunisia)
Study visit to Ankara and Istambul from 14 - 16 January
2013 on the invitation of the Turkish High Council of
Judges and Prosecutors to assess the progress in the
reforms of the Turkish judicial system
The conferences
Conference on the Reform of the High Court of Albania -
6 and 7 June 2012 in Tirana (Albania) - Presentation
made by Stelios Nathanael, Judge, Supreme Court of
Cyprus, and CCJE member
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Meeting
of the working group of the CCJE