The CEPEJ Working Group on the Quality of Justice (CEPEJ-GT-QUAL) held its 41st meeting on 19 and 20 October 2026 in Strasbourg. It continued its work on several key aspects of the quality of justice, focusing on court users and their confidence in judicial systems, as well as on adapting justice to digital, environmental and societal changes.

The members of the Working Group examined, in particular, the revision of the methodology for satisfaction surveys aimed at court users. An online presentation of the surveys currently conducted by the High Court of Justice of Murcia, Spain, was followed by a discussion on revising the CEPEJ Handbook and developing a dedicated software tool to carry out these surveys.
The work also focused on developing a Charter to strengthen court users’ confidence and promote people-centred justice, with a view to ensuring that judicial systems remain accessible, fair and transparent in an increasingly digital environment.

Regarding environmental sustainability in courts and judicial administration, it was decided to prepare a questionnaire to gather information about national practices in this area.

The Working Group also discussed revising the Guidelines on the role of court-appointed experts. The development of indicators to measure the quality of justice was also on the agenda, in preparation for the first meeting of a joint working group with CEPEJ-GT-EVAL, scheduled to take place in Paris in January 2027.

Finally, mediation and restorative justice were discussed in the context of developing new tools to support the implementation of Recommendation CM/Rec(2018)8 concerning restorative justice in criminal matters.