Effectiveness of judicial proceedings
The Working group on effectiveness of judicial proceedings (CEPEJ-GT-EFF) is mandated to develop methods for analysing and evaluating the functioning of judicial systems, as well as to create tools that promote the effectiveness of justice. These efforts are designed to support member States in implementing policies to prevent violations of Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
To fulfil its mandate, the CEPEJ-GT-EFF is specifically tasked with the following activities:
Collecting, processing, and analysing information concerning the effective management and organisation of courts, as well as the training of judges and court staff in member States, including by drawing on experiences of the CEPEJ Network of Pilot Courts;
Developing tools, indicators, and methodologies to measure the workload in courts;
Managing the CEPEJ Resource Centre on backlog reduction practices and formulating proposals to reduce the length of judicial proceedings ;
Reviewing CEPEJ instruments relating to the enforcement of court decisions, building on the work previously undertaken by the CEPEJ-GT-EXE.
The CEPEJ-GT-EFF has incorporated into its mandate the themes previously addressed by the Working Group on Judicial Time Management (CEPEJ-SATURN), thus ensuring continuity with the work of this group, which ceased its activities in 2025.
Composition
Members / Membres
-
Ana BILIC ANDRIJANIC
Head of Court Performance Efficiency Department, High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council, BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA -
Ivan CRNCEC
State Secretary, Ministry of Justice, CROATIA -
Francesco DEPASQUALE
Judge for the Superior Courts of Malta and Gozo, MALTA -
Ombeline MAHUZIER
Présidente, Tribunal judiciaire de Colmar, FRANCE -
Sabine MATEJKA
President, District Court of Floridsdorf/Vienna, AUSTRIA -
Pawel WRZASZCZ
Head of Land and Mortgage Register Department, District Court of Lublin, POLAND
Scientific experts / Experts scientifiques
-
Kaspars BERKIS
Judge, Regional Administrative Court, LATVIA -
Christian DE VALKENEER
President, First Instance Court of Namur-Dinant, BELGIUM -
Dimitrije SUJERANOVIC
Justice Reform Expert, SERBIA
Deputy Working Group members / Membres suppléants du Groupe de travail
-
Marta GARCIA DE VICUNA UNDA
Advisor, Directorate General for the Efficiency of the Public Justice Service, SPAIN -
Ketevan TSINTSADZE
Judge, Supreme Court, GEORGIA
Observers / Observateurs
European Union institutions / Institutions de l’Union européenne
-
Council of the Bars and Law Societies of Europe / Conseil des Barreaux européens (CCBE)
-
European Expertise and Expert Institute / Institut Européen de l’Expertise et de l’Expert (EEEI)
-
European Union of Rechtspfleger / Union européenne des greffiers de justice et Rechtspfleger (EUR)
-
International Union of Bailiffs / Union Internationale des Huissiers de Justice et Officiers Judiciaires (UIHJ)
-
Israël
Secretariat
|
|
|
|
Secretary of the Working group on Effectiveness of judicial proceedings (GT-EFF)
|
Assistant
|
Working Group meeting reports
1rst meeting, 30 March -1 April 2026, Strasbourg, France
Meeting report (CEPEJ-GT-EFF(2026)5)
Tools
- Case-weighting tool for courts (12/2025)
- Time Management Checklist for public prosecution services (12/2024)
- Explanatory note for the time management checklist for public prosecution services (12/2024)
- Backlog reduction tool (06/2023)
- Time Management Checklist for courts (06/2023)
- Explanatory Note for the Time Management Checklist for courts (06/2023)
- SATURN Guidelines for judicial time management (12/2021)
- Handbook on court dashboards (06/2021)
- Implementation guide: Towards European timeframes for judicial proceedings (12/2016)
CEPEJ Studies
- Study on the length of the stages of civil proceedings (06/2026)
- Workload measurement systems in courts - CEPEJ Studies No. 30 (12/2025)
- Case-weighting in public prosecution services - CEPEJ Studies No. 29 (12/2023)
- Case weighting in judicial systems - CEPEJ Studies No. 28 (also available in Latvian and in Ukrainian) (07/2020)
- Length of court proceedings in the member states of the Council of Europe based on the case law of the European Court of Human Right, by Ms Françoise Calvez and Nicolas Regis, Judges (France) 3rd edition by Nicolas Regis - Cepej Studies No. 27 (12/2018)
- Study on Council of Europe Member States on Appeal and Supreme Courts' Lengths of Proceedings (Report prepared by Marco Velicogna) IRSIG-CNR and CEPEJ expert - CEPEJ Studies No. 17 (09/2015)
Other useful documents
- Time requirements arising from Articles 5 and 6 of the Eruopean Convention on Human Rights - Implementation manual for criminal cases (05/2020)
- The time parameter within article 5 ECHR - Towards reasonable timeframes for judicial proceedings -Research on the European Court of Human Rights case-law pertaining to the requirement for reasonable time of proceedings in the ambit of article 5 ECHR (04/2020)
- Guide: Implementing the SATURN time management tools in courts a guide (12/2015)
- Compendium of "best practices" on time management of judicial proceedings (12/2006)
- Reports on the implementation of the CEPEJ guidelines for judicial time management in 7 pilot courts / institutions (Czech Republic, Georgia, Italy, Norway, Switzerland, United Kingdom) (03/ 2011)
- 2009 questionnaire on the evaluation of the CEPEJ guidelines for judicial time management (06/2009)
- Data analysis of the pilot courts replies to the questionnaire prepared by the Steering Group of the SATURN Centre (12/2008)
- Moving towards an Observatory of Judicial Timeframes in Europe (10/2008)
- Questionnaire on common case categories, judicial timeframes and delays (11/2007)
- Explanatory note to the questionnaire on common case categories, judicial timeframes and delays (11/2007)
The Resource Centre is a public database of practices implemented in the Council of Europe Member States to reduce and prevent judicial backlogs. The practices are intended to serve as inspiration for the States that wish to address backlogs of cases.
Network of pilot courts
The Network of pilot courts provides a better understanding of the day-to-day functioning of courts and allows exchanges of good practices of the justice systems of the member States of the Council of Europe.
CEPEJ Working group on effectiveness of judicial proceedings
Collaborative workspaces:
