PURPOSE: presentation of the EU Justice
Scoreboard for 2013.
BACKGROUND: the objective of the EU Justice Scoreboard
is to assist the EU and the Member States to achieve more effective
justice by providing objective, reliable and comparable data on the
functioning of the justice systems of all Member States.
The main characteristics of the Scoreboard
are:
- a comparative
tool: it covers all Member States and focuses on timeliness,
independence, affordability, and easy access to the Member
States’ justice systems without presenting an overall single
ranking;
- a non-binding tool: it
is to be operated as part of an open dialogue with the Member
States which aims to help the Member States and EU institutions in
defining better justice policies and to identify issues that
deserve particular attention;
- an evolving
tool: it will gradually expand in the areas covered, the
indicators and the methodology, with the objective of identifying
the essential parameters of an effective justice system.
Coverage: the 2013 edition examines efficiency
indicators for non-criminal cases, in particular for litigious
civil and commercial cases which are relevant for resolving
commercial disputes, and for administrative
cases.
CONTENT: the 2013 Scoreboard targets a certain number
of difficulties such as:
- Length of proceedings: at least one third of Member States have an average
length of proceedings that is at least twice as long as in the
majority of Member States. The length of proceedings is linked to
the rate at which the courts can resolve cases, the 'clearance
rate', and to the number of cases that are still waiting to be
resolved (pending cases). If this situation persists over several years, this could be indicative
of a more systemic problem requiring corrective measures.
The reduction of the excessive length of
proceedings should be a priority in
order to improve the business environment
and attractiveness for investment.
- Evaluation of the quality of justice: effective time management of court cases requires that
the courts, the judiciary and all justice end-users can be informed
on the functioning of courts through a regular monitoring
system. The Scoreboard shows that (i) a large majority of
Member States has a comprehensive monitoring system, but several
Member States are lagging behind or do not make the data available;
and (ii) that several Member States do not perform regular
evaluations of court activities and that quality standards are not
defined in more than half of the Member States.
- Justice and ICTs: ICT
systems for the registration and management of cases are
indispensable tools at the disposal of courts for an effective time
management of cases, as they help to improve the rate at which the court can treat cases and thereby to
reduce the overall length of proceedings. Most Member States have a well-developed system for the
registration and management of cases; however, in several Member States
developments are lagging behind. The ICT
systems also play an increasing role in cross-border
cooperation between judicial authorities
and thereby facilitate the implementation of EU
legislation.
- Alternative Dispute Resolution: effective mediation and other alternative dispute
resolution (ADR) methods provide an early settlement between
parties on voluntary basis, reduce the number of pending cases and
can thus have an important positive impact on the workload of
courts, which are then more able to keep reasonable
timeframes.
- Training of judges: initial and continous training is important for
maintaining or increasing the knowledge and the skills of justice
personnel. Training is particularly important considering the
continuous development of national and EU legislation, the
increased pressure to meet the expectations of end-users and the
trend towards the professional management within the
judiciary.
- Resources: investing in
a well organised justice system can make an important contribution
to sustainable growth.
- Disparity in the perception of
independence: as a general rule,
justice must not only be done, it must be seen to be done.
Even though several Member States are among the
top 10 worldwide leaders in terms of the
perception of judicial independence, the Scoreboard shows a rather low level of perception of judicial independence by
business end-users of the justice system
in certain Member States. These findings merit special attention
and a more detailed assessment into why a
lack of trust exists for certain Member States.
Next steps: the key
findings of the 2013 Scoreboard highlight the priority areas that
need to be addressed. The Commission will translate these
priorities into the following actions:
- the issues identified in the Scoreboard will be taken
into account in preparing the forthcoming country specific analysis
of the 2013 European Semester. They will also guide the work in the
context of the Economic Adjustments Programmes.
- the Commission has proposed that Regional Development
and Social Funds will be available for reforms of the judicial
systems in the next multi-annual financial framework.
On the basis of
this Scoreboard, the Commission invites the Member States, the
European Parliament, and all stakeholders to an open dialogue and
constructive collaboration towards the continued improvement of the
national justice systems in the EU in the context of the European
Semester, of Europe's growth strategy 'Europe 2020', the
strengthening of the Single Market and the EU's Citizens'
Agenda.
In the medium term, the Commission plans to launch a
wider debate on the role of Justice in the EU and will organise, on
21 and 22 November 2013, the Assises de la justice, a
high-level conference, which will bring together senior policy
makers at European and national level, judges from supreme courts
and other courts, judicial authorities, legal professions and all
stakeholders. Such a joint reflection is indispensable for
developing a true European area of justice.