Newsroom
Press conference on the development of a digital justice strategy for Malta
On 17 July, Dr Edward Żammit Lewis, Maltese Minister of Justice, Equality and Governance, held a press conference on the development of a digital justice strategy for Malta. The Minister stressed the need to increase the efficiency of the Maltese judicial system, which should be achieved in...
Communication strategy for the judiciary in Azerbaijan
The Council of Europe is preparing an expert advice to Azerbaijani judicial authorities on steps to disseminate CEPEJ tools on “Communication strategy for the judiciary”. Online meetings with the Ministry of Justice, the Prosecutor General’s Office, the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court...
Expert advice on “Access to courts for vulnerable groups” in Azerbaijan
CEPEJ is developing an expert advice to Azerbaijani judicial authorities on “Access to courts for vulnerable groups”. In this regard, online meetings have been organized in June with the Ministry of Justice, the Judicial Legal Council, the Justice Academy, the State Committee for Family, Women...
The CEPEJ adopts two important and concrete tools for the proper functioning of the courts
The members of the CEPEJ adopted, by written procedure, the bi-annual report on the evaluation of European judicial systems which will be published next October, after it has been presented to the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe. This report presents the main European analyses and...
Important CEPEJ tools are available online in different languages
The members of the CEPEJ are active and committed and ensure that the tools developed by the CEPEJ are translated into the different languages of the member States of the Council of Europe. These documents are available on the "country profile" page of the CEPEJ website and under the heading of...
Launch of a new CEPEJ cooperation project: “Promoting cyberjustice in Spain through change management”
The CEPEJ, in cooperation with the Ministry of Justice of Spain and the Directorate General for Structural Reform of the European Commission, conducted on 25 June 2020 the first coordination meeting. The discussions carried out by videoconference, in presence of CEPEJ international experts, aimed...
The CEPEJ awards the First Prize of the Crystal Scales of Justice Junior Edition
The Jury of the Junior Edition of the Crystal Scales of Justice Prize met on 25 June 2020 and awarded for the first time this Prize to the team from the Faculty of Law of Strasbourg (France) led by Mrs Cowderoy who defended the Crystal Scales of Justice Prize “Mediation in criminal justice;...
Participation of the CEPEJ to the meeting of the Heads of the monitoring and advisory bodies of the Council of Europe
Onn 29 June 2020, the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Marija Pejčinović Burić organised a meeting of the Heads of the monitoring and advisory bodies of the Council of Europe in order to define the four-year strategic framework of the Council of Europe. Ramin Gurbanov, President of the...
Exploring the possibility to develop a document-exchange system to facilitate the communication between justice users, lawyers and courts in Kosovo* and Albania
On 23 May 2020, the CEPEJ Secretariat organised a meeting with Mr Ghera, President of the Court of Strasbourg, and the SEJIII and KOSEJII project teams to get an understanding of how courts and lawyers communicate in France through the e-Barreau platform, and to discuss if a similar platform...
Latvia: workshops on the courts' communication with the media and the public and on the introduction of dashboards
On 30 June 2020, a presentation of a CEPEJ assessment report on court communication by a CEPEJ expert was organised by videoconference in the presence of representatives of the Ministry of Justice, court administration, the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court of other courts and the European...
The CEPEJ launches a procedure for the written adoption of its documents
Due to the exceptional circumstances represented by the Covid-19 crisis, the CEPEJ Bureau decided to organise a written procedure in order to examine the documents which should have been examined during the CEPEJ plenary meeting of June 2020. The CEPEJ Evaluation Report (Evaluation cycle...
Mediation training programme for Tunisia's future magistrates
On 5 and 12 June 2020, the Council of Europe in partnership with the Tunisian Higher Institute of Magistracy and the Ministry of Justice organised conferences which trained 256 auditors. A third conference on the same theme has just been organised on 19 June 2020. These conferences, which focus...
Workshop for Latvian judicial authorities on the use of Key Performance Indicators and dashboards for monitoring and improving the judicial performance
On 19th June 2020, the CEPEJ, in partnership with the Latvian Court Administration, organised a workshop by videoconference, on the use of Key Performance Indicators and dashboards for monitoring and improving the judicial performance, based on Slovenian good practices, in particular the use of...
27th meeting of the CEPEJ Working Group on Quality of Justice
The 27th meeting of the CEPEJ Working Group on quality of justice (CEPEJ-GT-QUAL) took place by videoconference on 18 June 2020. The Group discussed the possible establishment of a mechanism to certificy AI solutions in accordance with the principles of the European Ethical Charter on the use of...
The CEPEJ calls on member States to take up the challenges for judicial systems after the COVID-19 pandemic
During its ad-hoc meeting by videoconference on 10 June 2020, organised in the framework of the Greek Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, the CEPEJ adopted the "DECLARATION ON LESSONS LEARNT AND CHALLENGES FACED BY THE JUDICIARY DURING AND AFTER THE COVID-19...
Exceptional meeting of the CEPEJ on the impact and lessons of the health crisis on the efficiency of justice and the functioning of judicial systems
The CEPEJ held an ad hoc meeting on 10 June by video conference to look into a range of issues related to the delivery of justice and the functioning of courts during and after the COVID19 pandemic. The meeting brought together members and observers of the CEPEJ to reflect and draw lessons from...
CEPEJ ensures participation of partner institutions of cooperation programs into SATURN working group meeting
On 18 May 2020, representatives of the partner institutions of the Judiciary of Georgia, Latvia, Slovak Republic attended the meeting of the SATURN working group on judicial timeframes of the CEPEJ. The meeting focused on the project concerning the development of a tool to implement a...
First online training needs assessment survey at the Justice Academy in Kosovo*
On 23 May 2020, the Director of the Academy and the heads of the initial and continuous training programmes held an online meeting with the CEPEJ expert, Ms Marina Naumovska, to prepare the implementation of a training needs assessment survey, which will be for the first time conducted online....
Call for Tenders for national consultants in the Republic of Moldova
The Council of Europe is launching calls for the provision of consultancy services in the fields of court management and enforcement of court decisions in civil and administrative matters in the Republic of Moldova, in the framework of the EU/CoE joint Programme Partnership for Good Governance II...
Launch of a new Cyberjustice Project in Malta
On 11 May 2020, a first Steering Committee Meeting was organised via videoconference, officially starting the CEPEJ Project “Establishing a Digital Strategy for the Maltese Justice Sector”, which is funded by the Directorate General For Structural Reform Support (DG REFORM) of the European...
The management of judicial timeframes and the case-weighting has been discussed by the CEPEJ SATURN Group on 18 May 2020
The meeting of the CEPEJ SATURN Working Group on the management of judicial timeframes took place by videoconference on 18 May 2020. The Group discussed the project concerning the tool to implement a case-weighting system developed on the basis of an analysis by two international experts. The...
Finalising the third assessment report on the functioning of the judicial system in Kosovo* and sharing the “know how” to collect and analyse the required data
On 7 May 2020, the two CEPEJ coordinators in the Ministry of Justice met virtually with the CEPEJ international expert Julinda Beqiraj to discuss the recommendations in the third assessment report on the functioning of the judicial system in Kosovo. The report examines the evolution of the...
Two videoconferences organised to improve the Legal Aid scheme in Latvia
On 27 and 28 April 2020, the CEPEJ organised two videoconferences with representatives of the Latvian Ministry of Justice and Legal Aid Administration. The first one consisted in presenting the legal aid systems of other member states (Ukraine, the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, England and...
The CEPEJ concretely involved in the implementation of judicial reforms in Georgia
The CEPEJ experts, Mr Vincent Rochefort and Mr Georg Stawa have started the evaluation of the administrative organisation of the Georgian courts and its non-judicial staff with a view to developing recommendations and guidelines concerning the evaluation of non-judicial staff. The analysis of the...
Access to justice and case management by courts in times of crisis: video intervention by Georg Stawa, former President of the CEPEJ
On the occasion of an online seminar organised by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on 27 April 2020 on Human rights and the Rule of law, with experts from the Council of Europe, Georg Stawa, former President of the CEPEJ and current titular member (Austria) spoke about the...
Meeting by videoconference of the managers of CEPEJ co-operation programmes in Strasbourg and in the field offices
All the managers of CEPEJ co-operation programmes (Albania, Azerbaijan, Dashboard Western Balkans, Georgia, Kosovo*, Latvia, Malta, Republic of Moldova, Slovakia, Tunisia) based in Strasbourg or in the field, met on 28 April by video-conference to exchange on the consequences of the current...
First meeting of the new CEPEJ Working Group on cyberjustice and artificial intelligence
The first meeting of the new CEPEJ Working group on Cyberjustice and artificial intelligence (CEPEJ-GT-CYBERJUST) took place by videoconference on 27 April 2020. The objective of the Working group is to analyse and develop appropriate tools on new issues such as the use of cyberjustice or...
2nd ad hoc meeting of the CEPEJ Working Group on Evaluation of judicial systems
2nd ad hoc meeting of the CEPEJ Working Group on Evaluation of judicial systems The 2nd ad hoc videoconference meeting of the CEPEJ Working Group on Evaluation took place on 22 April 2020 and was aimed at preparing the 2020 edition of the evaluation report. The group also discussed the country...
The Working Group on the Evaluation of European Judicial Systems is preparing its next report
The Working Group on Evaluation continues the preparation of the next CEPEJ report “European judicial systems – Efficiency and quality”. Several videoconferences have been organised between the working group experts and the experts in charge of drafting each chapter in order to prepare the next...
Sharing solutions and measures implemented in the member States to ensure the functioning of European judicial systems in the context of the COVID pandemic-19
Due to the special circumstances related to the COVID-19 pandemic, many countries have had to adopt emergency measures regarding the functioning of their judicial systems and to allow their courts to remain operational, as far as possible. In these exceptional circumstances, the CEPEJ has set up...
Support to the system of enforcement of court decisions in civil and administrative matters in the Republic of Moldova
The system of enforcement of court decisions in civil and administrative matters in the Republic of Moldova will mark soon 10 years since switching to the institute of private judicial officers (bailiffs). Currently, the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Moldova and the National Union of...
The CEPEJ modifies certain dates of its meetings but does not interrupt its work
In the framework of COVID-19 preventive measures and following the decision of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe to postpone all meetings and events taking place in France between 9 March and 30 April as well as all other meetings involving the presence of international experts which...
SEJ III: Training session for newly appointed magistrates on satisfaction surveys
A third training session was organised on CEPEJ tools on 28 February 2020 in Tirana, following the Training Needs Assessment carried out under SEJII. The training seminar focused on satisfaction surveys for court users and was attended by the newly appointed magistrates. Its objective was to...
CEPEJ continues to support the improvement of the efficiency of courts and the quality of judicial services in the Republic of Moldova
On 25-26 February 2020, in the framework of the project “Support to further strengthening the efficiency and quality of the judicial system in the Republic of Moldova”, an expert mission aimed at addressing the steps for the dissemination of CEPEJ tools in all courts of the Moldova, based on the...
A Fact-finding meeting to assess the mediation scheme in Latvia took place in Riga on 2 and 3 March 2020
On 2 and 3 March 2020, the CEPEJ organised a meeting in Riga aiming at conducting an assessment of the Mediation scheme in Latvia. The experts, who are former members of the CEPEJ Working Group on mediation, therefore thoroughly exchanged with the key actors of mediation (mediators, judges,...
Activities on mediation and legal aid in Riga, 21 February and 24 and 25 February
On 21 February 2020, the CEPEJ organised a meeting in Riga aiming at presenting to the key actors of mediation in Latvia (mediators, judges, lawyers) the tools developed by the CEPEJ Working Group on Mediation (GT-MED). This presentation was given by CEPEJ experts, who were members of the Working...
The CEPEJ publishes its Newsletter presenting the winners of the Crystal Scales of Justice Prize and its activities
The CEPEJ has just published its 18th Newsletter, containing a description of each of the awarded projects of the 2019 Crystal Scales of Justice Prize, accompanied by a link to the video and powerpoint presentations. They concern the quality of justice and well-being at work, penal mediation and...
Presentation of CEPEJ tools for time management in Slovak courts during a workshop held on 13 February 2020 in Bratislava
On 13 February 2020, CEPEJ conducted a workshop on the implementation of tools for time management, namely the timeframes tool, and their monitoring by IT means in Slovak courts, in cooperation with the Ministry of Justice of the Slovak Republic. The workshop was opened by Ms Edita Pfundtner,...
Mission of CEPEJ experts to support judicial statistics in Albania in accordance with CEPEJ standards and tools
At the request of the High Judicial Council (HJC), a mission of CEPEJ experts to support the transfer of responsibility for the collection of statistics from the Ministry of Justice to HJC has been organized on 12-14 February 2020. CEPEJ experts with main beneficiaries (HJC, MoJ, High Justice...
Joining efforts with international partners to support the development of statistical reports and dashboards for courts and prosecution offices in Kosovo*
In February 2020, the KoSEJ II Action and the USAID-funded project ‘Justice System Strengthening Programme’ (JSSP) formulated three key recommendations for the Kosovo Judicial Council and Kosovo* Prosecutorial Council regarding the development of statistical reports and dashboards that will be...
Reflections on strengthening the unification and dissemination of jurisprudence in criminal proceedings
The Council of Europe, with the support of the European Union and in partnership with the Court of Cassation and the Ministry of Justice, organised a regional seminar on 6 and 7 February 2020 in Sousse (Tunisia) entitled "The dissemination and unification of jurisprudence in criminal...
The CEPEJ and the Council of State of Egypt organise a workshop on conducting satisfaction surveys aimed at court users
The European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice (CEPEJ) is organising a workshop for judges and staff of the Egyptian Council of State on conducting satisfaction surveys aimed at court users in Cairo (Egypt), on 18 February 2020. The workshop will be opened by the President of the Egyptian...
The CEPEJ will organise a fact-finding visit to Georgia on 18 and 19 February 2020
On 18 and 19 February 2020, the CEPEJ Secretariat, accompanied by a group of international experts, will organise a fact finding visit to Georgia in order to introduce the new CEPEJ project in Georgiaand the work of CEPEJ to the main beneficiaries and partners (High Council of Justice, Ministry...
Training course for about a hundred Moroccan Heads of public prosecution and officials of the Presidency of the Moroccan Public Prosecutor's Office on the organisation and management of public prosecution services
Press articles (in Arabic): AHDATH.INFO The European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice (CEPEJ) and the Presidency of the Public Prosecutor's Office are organising, on 11 and 12 February in Fez and Casablanca, a training course for about a hundred Moroccan Heads of public prosecution and...
The Working Group on evaluation of judicial systems prepares the next CEPEJ report on the evaluation of judicial systems
The Working Group on evaluation of judicial systems (CEPEJ-GT-EVAL) will meet in Strasbourg on 6 and 7 February 2020 and will focus on the preparation of the next report on the evaluation of judicial systems to be published in October 2020 on the basis of the 2018 data. This bi-annual evaluation...
Call for applications for the provision of intellectual services in the field of certification of artificial intelligence solutions
The Council of Europe is looking for a consultant to carry out a feasibility study on the possible establishment of a mechanism for the certification of AI solutions by the CEPEJ. A detailed description of the tasks can be found here. The consultant should have the following profile: University...
Call for applications for the provision of intellectual services in the field of certification of artificial intelligence solutions
The Council of Europe is looking for a consultant to carry out a feasibility study on the possible establishment of a mechanism for the certification of AI solutions by the CEPEJ. A detailed description of the tasks can be found here. The consultant should have the following profile: University...
Improving the training curricula of the Justice Academy in Kosovo* with CEPEJ standards
On 21 January 2020, the CEPEJ expert Ms Marina Naumovska met with the newly-appointed director of the Justice Academy in Pristina as well as the heads of the initial and continuous training programmes to discuss ways to improve its curricula with CEPEJ standards and methodology. The expert also...
A court coaching programme for Latvian pilot courts was launched in Riga on 22 and 23rd January 2020
CEPEJ conducted on 22-23 January 2020, the first session of a court coaching programme for two pilot courts, in cooperation with the Court Administration of Latvia. The session, held in the premises of the Riga Regional Court, was moderated by Ms Daiga Vilsone, President of the Riga Regional...
New composition of the CEPEJ Working Groups on evaluation, quality of justice, judicial timeframes and digital transformation of judicial systems
At its 35th meeting which took place in Paris on 23 January 2020, the Bureau of the CEPEJ decided on the composition of the working groups for 2020-2021. The Bureau also appointed the scientific experts for each group, who may be invited to participate in certain meetings. Link to the list of...
The implementation of the CEPEJ 2020-2021 activity programme and the composition of the working groups on the agenda of the meeting of the Bureau of the CEPEJ
At its meeting in Paris on 23 January 2020, the Bureau of the CEPEJ will decide on concrete actions to implement the 2020-2021 activity programme adopted by the CEPEJ at its last plenary meeting in December. The Bureau will thus designate the members of the various existing working groups, and in...
Workshop on Case Weighting in member States
The CEPEJ SATURN Working Group is currently working on the development of a methodology to be used by judicial systems wishing to introduce a case-weighting system. In order to enrich its knowledge in this field, the CEPEJ is organising on 24 January in Paris a workshop aiming at discovering the...
Introducing statistics in the new case management system in Kosovo*
In October 2019, a coordination group of international experts from the Norwegian-funded CMIS/ICT project, USAID and the CEPEJ was established to support the development of the statistics function of the case management system for courts and prosecution offices in Kosovo*. As a first step in this...
Call for tenders for the provision of intellectual services in the implementation of CEPEJ cooperation programmes
The Council of Europe’s European commission for the Efficiency of Justice (CEPEJ) is launching a call for tenders for the provision of intellectual services in the implementation of its ongoing and future cooperation programmes which goals are to strenghten the efficiency and quality of the...
Improving the enforcement system in Azerbaijan
On 11 December 2019, three CEPEJ experts held a meeting in Baku with representatives of the Directorate General of Enforcement of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ). The aim of the meeting was to discuss the MOJ study on alternative mechanisms of enforcement of decisions and the entrustment of...
Launching of the project “Support to further strengthening the efficiency and quality of the judicial system in the Republic of Moldova”
The Council of Europe and the European Union launched, in co-operation with national partners, the project “Support to further strengthening the efficiency and quality of the judicial system in the Republic of Moldova”, part of the second phase of the Partnership for Good Governance (2019-2021)....
The CEPEJ publishes important tools for the prevention of the isolation of judges and mediation and envisages an appropriate follow-up to its Charter on AI
At the 33rd plenary meeting of the CEPEJ held in Strasbourg on 5 and 6 December 2019, the CEPEJ adopted the Guidelines on knowledge sharing among judges, which aim to improve judges' know-how and interpersonal skills, strengthen knowledge sharing and collaboration, and overcome a culture of...
The Council of Europe awards the Pro Merito Medal to Mr Jean-Paul JEAN
On the occasion of the 33rd plenary meeting of the CEPEJ, Jean-Paul Jean (France) was awarded the Pro Merito medal by Christophe Poirel, Director of Human Rights at the Council of Europe, representing the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Marija Pejčinović Burić, for his valuable...
33rd plenary meeting of the CEPEJ
At the 33rd plenary meeting of the CEPEJ to be held in Strasbourg on 5 and 6 December 2019, the Guidelines on knowledge sharing among judges, which aim to improve judges' skills and competences, strengthen knowledge sharing and collaboration, and move beyond a culture of judicial isolation...
Global Forum on Digital Assets and Enforcement to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Guidelines for a better implementation of the existing Council of Europe Recommendation on Enforcement
On 17 December 2009, the CEPEJ adopted Guidelines for a better implementation of the existing Council of Europe Recommendation on enforcement. These principles aim to guarantee access for all to an enforcement agent and to quality enforcement while respecting the fundamental rights of litigants....
Dashboard for the Western Balkans: visits to support data collection for the beneficiaries of the project
The CEPEJ organised between 19 and 28 November 2019 data collection support visits for the beneficiaries of the project "Dashboard for the Western Balkans: towards a better evaluation of the results of judicial reform efforts in the Western Balkans". These visits took place in Pristina (Kosovo*),...
2019AO92 DGI/CEPEJ - Call for tenders - for the provision of intellectual services on efficiency and quality of Justice at local level in the Republic of Albania (based on CEPEJ tools)
Under the framework of the second phase of the European Union / Council of Europe Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey (HF II), the Council of Europe is looking for a maximum of 14 (fourteen) Providers at local level to support the implementation of the Action on ‘Strengthening...
Final Conference – Programme “Supporting the efficiency of Justice in Malta”
The final Conference of the project “Supporting the efficiency of Justice in Malta” took place on 13 November 2019. At this occasion, European experts presented and discussed with the Maltese stakeholders the results of their assessment of various aspects of the justice system in Malta (committal...
Launch of a new project to support further modernisation of the Latvian judicial system and improving access to justice
The CEPEJ held coordination meetings on the efficiency of justice, legal aid and mediation in Riga, Latvia, followed by a launch event of the co-operation project entitled "Strengthening the access to justice in Latvia through fostering mediation and legal aid services, as well as support for the...
International conference for sharing experiences on the reorganisation of the Court of Cassation in Tunisia
The Council of Europe, with the support of the European Union and in partnership with the Court of Cassation and the Ministry of Justice, organised a conference on 7 and 8 November in Tunis entitled: "The reorganisation of the Court of Cassation: cross-views to renew the pact of trust between...
Vacancy notice for Senior Project Officer published for the PGGII project ‘Support to further strengthening the efficiency and quality of the judicial system in the Republic of Moldova’
Job mission: Under the authority of the Head of Office, and the supervision of the Secretary of the European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice (CEPEJ), Justice and Legal Co-operation Department, Directorate General Human Rights and Rule of Law, the Senior Project Officer will carry out...
The CEPEJ awards the Crystal Scales of Justice Prize to the Supreme Court of Slovenia
Oslo (Norway), 25.10.2019 – The Supreme Court of Slovenia has just been rewarded for an initiative entitled “Improving the quality of justice” (IQ Justice) [video – powerpoint presentation] The 2019 European Crystal Scales of Justice prize, organised by the Council of Europe and rewarding...
Justice professionals mobilise for 25 October, European Day of Justice
The European Day of Justice is celebrated every year around 25 October. It is jointly organised by the Council of Europe and the European Commission. To this end, the member States of the Council of Europe have been invited to organise events to promote the work of the Council of Europe and the...
Council of Europe to hold its 7th workshop on democracy as part of its co-operation projects in the Southern Mediterranean
This 7th workshop on democracy, held by the European Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission) in co-operation with the European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice (CEPEJ) and the Consultative Council of European Judges (CCJE) under the French Chairmanship of the Committee of...
Seminar on mediation in Tunis on 23th October 2019
On 23th October, the Council of Europe and the Superior Institute of the Lawyer Profession (ISPA) jointly organise a seminar on mediation in Tunis (Tunisia). Included in the Institute's training in alternative conflict resolution methods, this event will introduce participants - lawyers,...
Operationalisation of the CEPEJ Charter’s principles and breaking judges’ isolation on the agenda of the Working group on quality of judicial systems
The European Ethical Charter on the use of artificial intelligence in judicial systems and their environment has quickly become a reference for Council of Europe’s member States, as confirmed also in the Conference of Ministers of Justice of the 47 Council of Europe member States. In line with...
Marrakech conference on "Justice and investment: challenges and issues"
Marrakech conference on "Justice and investment: challenges and issues" Following the success of the first edition of the Marrakech International Conference on Justice, organised in 2018 and dedicated to the independence of the judiciary from the perspective of guaranteeing the rights of...
Workshop “Improving the organisation, efficiency and quality of the Spanish system for the support of victims of crime”
This workshop, which will be held in Madrid on 17th October 2019, should provide a platform for the discussion of the Spanish and other EU Member States’ experiences with regard to the organisation and functioning of the national victims support systems. The participants will examine the existing...
The CEPEJ Working Group on Mediation meets in Strasbourg in order to further develop tools for the development of mediation
At its 6th meeting, on 17 and 18 October 2019, the Working Group on Mediation will consider draft mediation training programmes for judges, lawyers and notaries. These tools will then be integrated into the Toolbox for the Development of Mediation, which the working group has been developing and...
Launch of the 1st edition of the "Junior Crystal Scales of Justice" prize - 2020 edition
This prize, jointly organised by the CEPEJ and the Faculty of Law of Strasbourg, complements the existing Crystal Scales of Justice Prize. It is open to students in Master 1 and Master 2 of the Law Faculties of one of the member States of the Council of Europe or of an observer State to the CEPEJ...
The Center for Studies, Research and Documentation of Lawyers (CERDA) and the Council of Europe organised from 3 to 5 October in Tunis, a symposium to celebrate the sixtieth anniversary of the Code of Civil and Commercial Procedure
Opened by Mr. Hatem ROUATBI, Director of the CERDA, Mr. Taieb RACHED, First President of the Court of Cassation, Mr. Brahim BOUDERBALA, President of the Tunis Bar Association, Mr. Sami BOSTANJI, Dean of the Faculty of Law and political science of Tunis, this conference brought together over 250...
CEPEJ mission to develop a roadmap on disseminating CEPEJ tools in all courts of Azerbaijan
On 9 October 2019, the CEPEJ carried out a mission to Baku to develop a roadmap on disseminating the CEPEJ tools in all courts of Azerbaijan. As a part of the mission, the CEPEJ delegation held meetings with the Ministry of Justice of Azerbaijan and five pilot courts of the previous phase of the...
Finalisation of the glossary of terms used by the CEPEJ
At its 5th meeting in Lisbon on 14 October 2019, the ad hoc Working Group on Definitions is expected to finalise the glossary of terms used by the CEPEJ since its creation in 2002. The objective of this glossary is to provide, in a single instrument, a homogeneous framework of the legal and...
The CEPEJ presented its work on the digital transformation of European judicial systems at the Conference of Ministers of Justice of the 47 member States of the Council of Europe
The Conference of Ministers of Justice of the Council of Europe, organised in the framework of the French Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers on 14 and 15 October at the Council of Europe, focused on "Digital challenges for justice in Europe”. During this conference, the work of the...
Seminars on Court performance reporting according to CEPEJ tools and methodology
On 7-8 October 2019, the CEPEJ, in cooperation with the Academy of Justice of Azerbaijan organised two one-day seminars in Baku for judges and court staff on “Court performance reporting according to CEPEJ tools and methodology”. The aim of the seminars was to develop a standard methodology of...
Meeting of the Network of pilot courts of the CEPEJ
The 14th plenary meeting of the CEPEJ Network of pilot courts was held on 3 October 2019 in the judicial city of Barcelona, at the invitation of the Commercial Court of Barcelona. Representatives of more than 40 pilot courts from different member States exchanged views on various topics such as...
Dashboard for the Western Balkans: Steering Committee and launch of data collection
The first meeting of the Steering committee of the project "Dashboard Western Balkans: Towards a better evaluation of the results of judiciary reform efforts in the Western Balkans" will be held in Skopje on 10 October 2019. The purpose of this meeting is also to launch data collection as part of...
SEJ III Action “Strengthening the quality and efficiency of justice in Albania” : High level seminar in Tirana, Albania, for the High Judicial Council
On 25 September 2019, a high level seminar on CEPEJ standards and tools took place at the request of Ms Naureda LLAGAMI, Chair of the HJC, for all members of the High Judicial Council (HJC). The objective was to raise awareness of HJC members on CEPEJ standards so that they can properly and...
SEJ III – Follow-up to the SEJ II recommendations to improve court security in Albania
On 23-24 September, the CEPEJ experts Pierre LAPORTE and Michel PERCHEPIED came to Albania to follow-up on their work with courts to improve safety and security measures. Meetings were held with the High Judicial Council (HJC) and the High Prosecutorial Council (HPC), to address the findings and...
Managing judicial timeframes: the SATURN Centre is developing new tools for courts
In order to facilitate and standardise the management of judicial timeframes in Europe, the CEPEJ Working Group on judicial time management (SATURN Centre) is developing a number of practical tools for legal professionals and courts. At its 26th meeting, on 2nd and 4th October 2019, in Barcelona...
14th annual meeting of the network of pilot courts of the CEPEJ
The CEPEJ's Network of pilot courts, composed of about fifty European courts, makes it possible to collect the opinion, comments and reactions of legal practitioners on the various works in progress within the CEPEJ. This network, composed of civil, criminal and administrative courts of first and...
Meeting in Strasbourg with field office staff
The staff of the external offices in charge of cooperation programs in the Judicial and Legal Cooperation Departement, of which the CEPEJ is a member, met in Strasbourg on 26 and 27 September 2019 to discuss cross-cutting issues such as the equal opportunities, data collection, project management...
The CEPEJ in the work of other international organisations competent in the field of justice
The European Association of Judges (AEJ), the International Association of Judges (IAJO) and the International Association for Court Administration (IACA) held their respective annual meetings from 15 to 17 September 2019 in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan. The President of the European Commission for the...
Study of European private enforcements systems: study visit to France and the Netherlands
From 15 to 19 September 2019, the CEPEJ organized a study visit to France (Paris) and the Netherlands (The Hague) for a group of representatives of the Directorate General of Enforcement and the Directorate of Information and Communication Technologies of the Ministry of Justice of Azerbaijan....
Project for the certification of artificial intelligence products in the light of the principles of the European Ethical Charter of the CEPEJ
Following the adoption of the European Ethical Charter on the use of artificial intelligence in judicial systems and their environment in December 2018, the CEPEJ is currently exploring the feasibility of a certification mechanism for AI products used in judicial systems with regard to the...
KoSEJ II - first Steering Committee (SC) meeting in Pristina
The First Steering Committee meeting of the KoSEJ II Action took place on 11 September 2019 at the Council of Europe Office in Pristina. Members and observers had the opportunity to discuss thoroughly key aspects of the Action following the KoSEJ recommendations and made concrete proposals for...
The shortlisted initiatives of the Crystal Scales of Justice Prize concern the fields of quality of justice, digital justice and mediation
The European “Crystal Scales of Justice Prize”, awarded by the Council of Europe, allows discovering, highlighting and sharing innovative practices aimed at improving the efficiency and quality of judicial systems. Out of 43 applications from 20 different countries, the jury, composed of justice...
Free advice from legal professionals, training and trial simulations from September to November throughout Europe on the occasion of the European Day of Justice
As part of the celebration of the European Day of Justice, several Council of Europe member States will organise from September to November 2019 various events aimed at informing citizens about their rights, including open days at courts, notarial chambers or other institutions and associations...
Meeting of the Working Group on Evaluation of Judicial Systems of the CEPEJ
The Working Group on Evaluation of Judicial Systems of the CEPEJ (CEPEJ-GT-EVAL) will meet in Paris on 23 and 24 September 2019 to discuss the ongoing data collection for the next evaluation report on judicial systems, the structure of this report and possible developments of CEPEJ-STAT, the...
The Ministry of Justice of the Slovak Republic proposed to the national legislator the introduction of the “visiting judge” concept with a view to facilitating the replacement of suddenly departing judges or reinforcing the provisionally overburdened courts
Since 1 April 2017 the Ministry of Justice of the Slovak Republic and European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice (CEPEJ) have been actively engaged in the project “Strengthening the Efficiency and Quality of the Slovak Judicial System”. In the framework of this cooperation and as a result...
The European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice (CEPEJ) and the Ministry of Justice of the Slovak Republic are concluding the project “Strengthening the efficiency and quality of the Slovak judicial system"
The final conference entitled “Reforms with a view to strengthening the efficiency of the Slovak judicial system and the quality of courts” took place on 9 July 2019, in Bratislava. As part of the conference, Mr Gábor Gál, Minister of Justice and Ms Edita Pfundtner, State Secretary of the...
Workshop on “Driving cyberjustice reforms in Spain through change management”
The President of the European Commission of Efficiency of Justice of the Council of Europe (CEPEJ), Mr Ramin Gurbanov, and the Secretary General for the Administration of Justice of the Ministry of Justice of the Kingdom of Spain, Mr Antonio Viejo Llorente, presided together the workshop “Driving...
The CEPEJ provides institutional support to the Tunisian High Judicial Council ( Conseil Supérieur de la Magistrature- CSM)
As part of the technical assistance provided to the CSM to consolidate the governance of the judicial power, the CEPEJ organised on 28 June 2019 in Paris, a peer working meeting devoted to the preparation of the institution's annual report. This first meeting was an opportunity to answer the...
First activity of the CEPEJ cooperation project « Strengthening the efficiency and quality of the judicial system in Azerbaijan »
On the 2 and 3 July 2019, the first activity of the project « Strengthening the efficiency and quality of the judicial system in Azerbaijan » was held in Baku. It has been a round table on the topic « European trends regarding the status of enforcement agents ». This activity falls under the...
Official launching of the CEPEJ cooperation project « Strengthening the efficiency and quality of the judicial system in Azerbaijan »
On the 2 of July 2019, The Council of Europe, the Azerbaijani Judicial authorities and the European Union officially launched the project « Strengthening the efficiency and quality of the judicial system in Azerbaijan ». This launching event was the opportunity to present the new project to the...
Evaluation of judicial systems - 2018-2020 cycle
The President of the CEPEJ Evaluation Working Group (CEPEJ-GT-EVAL), Mr Jaša Vrabec, visited Nur Sultan (Kazakhstan) on 25 and 26 June in order to launch the first CEPEJ evaluation cycle of judicial systems in this country which is as an observer State to the CEPEJ. This visit has been in...
Second workshop and follow-up discussion on the draft report on key findings and recommendations
A team of CEPEJ experts visited Valletta (Malta) on 25 and 26 June 2019 to present and discuss the draft Report on Key Findings and Recommendations which concerns the functioning of the Court of Appeal (Superior Jurisdiction) and the development of a human resources strategy for the Maltese...
Call for applications for international consultants in the framework of the joint EU/CoE project "Improving the efficiency and quality of the Judicial System in Azerbaijan"
The European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice (CEPEJ) of the Council of Europe is launching a call for applications to create a pool of international consultants with relevant background to support the CEPEJ Secretariat in the implementation of the joint EU/CoE project "Improving the...
The Council of Europe, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the European Union officially launch two cooperation programmes in Tunisia to strengthen the independence of the judiciary and improve the functioning of the judicial system
On 20 June 2019, the Council of Europe, in close collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Delegation of the European Union in Tunisia, organised the official launch of the joint European Union/Council of Europe programmes "Project to Support Independent Bodies in Tunisia...
