Presentation by the European Commission, at the Meeting on Fostering Inclusive Growth and Trust in Justice Institutions, 12 November 2014

1. Effective Justice in the EU:
strengthening trust
European Commission
Directorate General Justice
Unit 03 - General justice policies and judicial systems
12 November 2014
OECD
Session 1

2. Why does trust in justice matter?
Trust is an essential element for an European justice area in which rich and diverse legal traditions co-exist: strengthening trust
2013 Flash Eurobarometer on Justice

3. A majority of people (53%) tend to trust their national justice system

4. Level of trust very high in some countries, low in others

5. Perceived differences between national justice systems

6. Effective justice systems
The effectiveness of national justice systems is essential for the democracy and also for:
•Growth and social stability
•Effective implementation of EU law
•Strengthening of mutual trust

7. Assisting the EU and the MS to achieve more effective justice
Since 2012 the improvement of quality, independence and efficiency is a priority in the EU annual cycle of economic policy coordination (European Semester).
The annual European Justice Scoreboard contributes to the analysis carried out as part of the European Semester

8. What is the EU Justice Scoreboard?
•An annual information tool which provides a comparative overview on the functioning of national justice systems
•Equal footing: does not promote any particular type of justice system
•Contributes to identifying potential shortcomings, improvements and good practices

9. What is the methodology of the EU Justice Scoreboard?
•Scope: civil, commercial,administrative cases
•The EU Justice Scoreboard uses different sources of information:
•CEPEJ (Council of Europe)
•Eurostat, World Bank, World Economic Forum
•European judicial networks
•Pilot field studies (consumer law, competition law)

10. What makes a justice system effective?
EU Justice Scoreboard indicators
•Efficiency
•Quality
•Independence

11. Efficiency – Length of proceedings
Time needed to resolve litigious civil and commercial cases (1st instance/in days)

12. Quality – Monitoring and evaluation
•Surveys conducted among court users or legal professionals in 2012*
(source: CEPEJ Study)

13. Figure 9: Judges participating in continuous training activities in EU Law or in the law of another Member State (as a % of total number or judges )* (source: Quality – Training of Judges
Judges participating in continuous training activities in EU Law or in the law of another Member State (as a % of total number or judges)

14. Independence – Judicial Independence
Perceived judicial independence (perception – higher value means better perception)

15. How does the EU Justice Scoreboard feed the European Semester
Poor performance always requires deeper analysis:
Country-specific assessment:
bilateral dialogue/ country visits
Eventually, Commission may propose Council Country- specific recommendations on the need to improve justice systems

16. Thank you
•Contact: JUST-NOTIFICATIONS-03@ec.europa.eu