60th Anniversary of the CDCJ - European Committee on Legal Co-operation

2023 marks the 60th Anniversary of the establishment of the European Committee on Legal Co-operation (CDCJ) which coincides with its... 100th plenary meeting (30 May-1 June 2023).

You will find below further information on the celebration event, but before, you may wish to know more about the Committee and the breadth of its work.

INTRODUCTION TO THE EUROPEAN COMMITTEE ON LEGAL CO-OPERATION (CDCJ)

Since its creation in 1963, by virtue of Resolution (63) 29 of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, the CDCJ, as a standard setting intergovernmental committee, has developed a large and wide-ranging number of binding and non-binding standards in the field of public and private law aimed at helping Council of Europe member states meet the challenges of rapidly evolving societies, whether they concern the courts and the judiciary, access to justice, the public administration, or private business, protection of the individual, the family, or civil society.

While its terms of reference have evolved over time, the CDCJ is mainly tasked by the Committee of Ministers, in addition to set standards, to oversee the Council of Europe’s work in the field of public and private law and to steer legal co-operation among member States in order to identify new and emerging challenges and to provide effective responses its areas of competence.

The CDCJ uses the preparation of legal instruments and of reports and studies, as well as exchange of views and information on the attitude of member states to specific problems, for the purposes of facilitating co-operation between member states and co-ordinating their actions, as instruments of co-operation.

With an output to date of about 60 international conventions or agreements and 90 recommendations, resolutions or guidelines, the CDCJ, as a steering committee, is providing a solid contribution to legal reform at pan-European level. Reports and studies have been undertaken upon request of the CDCJ on various topics in the different fields of competence of the CDCJ, the publication of which has been approved by the committee. These reports and studies – of which the following are some of the most recent and significant – form a basis for the work and subsequent achievements of the CDCJ or its subordinate bodies.

For more information of the CDCJ and its most recent achievements and current areas of interest to the committee, please:

open the leaflet on the CDCJ (Edition May 2023).
browse the other pages of the CDCJ website, including the page Background of the CDCJ.

A word of introduction by the Chair of the CDCJ: Christoph Henrichs

Questions and answers with the Chair of the CDCJ

1. What is the European Committee on Legal Co-operation (CDCJ)?

The CDCJ is the intergovernmental committee of the Council of Europe that works on civil and administrative law matters in the public and private law spheres and produces legal instruments to achieve common standards across Europe for the benefit of everyone. It brings together government experts from the 46 member States of the Council of Europe, but also engages with relevant stakeholders from civil society (research institutes, professional associations, non-governmental organisations, etc.) in carrying out its activities. The CDCJ works on a great variety of topics to meet the legal challenges of our societies as they emerge, including on family law, child-friendly access to justice, the independence of justice systems, protection of lawyers, legal aid, challenges of electronic developments, access to nationality and migration. It is probably the intergovernmental committee that covers the widest range of topics. Its role is ultimately to prepare legal instruments for adoption by the Committee of Ministers, the Council of Europe’s decision-making body in these areas.

2. Why is 2023 a special year for the CDCJ?

The CDCJ is celebrating this year its 60th anniversary. Over six decades, the CDCJ has produced a wealth of legal instruments, many of which have gained relevance as international standards well beyond the member States of the Council of Europe, ranging from the Convention for the Protection of Individuals with regard to Automatic Processing of Personal Data and the European Agreement on the Transmission of Applications for Legal Aid to the Recommendation on the protection of whistleblowers and the Civil Law Convention on Corruption. These are only some of the 60 treaties and 90 recommendations that it has prepared for adoption by the Committee of Ministers – most probably an unparalleled number amongst intergovernmental committees of the Council of Europe.

3. What topics is the CDCJ now working on?

The CDCJ continues to work on very topical and emerging issues where there is a need for a common legal approach in Europe. By way of example, it is currently working on a legal instrument for the protection of lawyers in order to ensure that they can exercise their profession free from undue interference. It is also dealing with the impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on public administration and the way it interacts with people. It also continues to work on family law matters and children in their contacts with judicial systems, with instruments on their rights and best interest in parental separation proceedings and care proceedings. Also still on its agenda is the independence of the judiciary, which the CDCJ is keeping under review. One last example, the Committee is about to embark on the preparation of a legal instrument on access of persons conceived by gamete donation to information on their origins. These are only a few examples that demonstrate that the CDCJ is busier than ever and will most certainly remain so in the foreseeable future!