10th anniversary of the occupation of the independent judicial officer in Estonia

 

In March 2001, Estonia has established an independent judicial officer, based on the model in force in France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. After ten years of practice, our colleagues wanted to celebrate this event by hosting an international conference, and by inviting representatives of many European countries and the UIHJ. The UIHJ delegation included its president, Leo Netten, and its first secretary, Mathieu Chardon.
Representatives of the profession of judicial officer of Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, and the FYRO-Macedonia also attended the event.
The conference was perfectly organized by the Chamber of Judicial officers and Trustees in Bankruptcy of Estonia, officially representing the two professions. The Organisation committee of the conference was chaired by our excellent colleague Elinn Vilippus, former president of the board of Assembly of the judicial officers of Estonia.
The opening ceremony was chaired by Rein Lang, Minister of Justice of Estonia. It also included Andres Hermet, chairman of the Chamber of Judicial officers and Trustees in Bankruptcy, Ken-Marti Vaher, chairman of the Legal Affairs Committee of the Parliament, Leo Netten and Janek Pool, chairman of the bureau of the Assembly of Judicial officers.
The ceremony was introduced by Mati Kadak, Vice-President of the Estonian Chamber. After the welcoming words of Andres Hermet, Ken Marti Vaher recalled that the profession of judicial officer in Estonia was set after the French model. He said that private judicial officers are more motivated in the often difficult task to enforce a court decision. This involves many skills and responsibilities, requiring permanent professional training. Rein Lang then stated that the establishment of the liberal profession is in line with a general phenomenon of privatization and that the French model, established in the 13th century, had been chosen. The minister for justice also recalled that the enforcement of judicial decisions should not be based solely on competition and that the public service aspect must always prevail.
 

 

Then Leo Netten congratulated the Estonian Chamber for this happy event. He recalled that Estonia was the first of the three Baltic States having adopted a liberal model for its judicial officers. The president of the UIHJ spoke of the several steps relating to the judicial reforms experienced by the countries of the former Soviet bloc after the fall of the Berlin Wall in the early part of the Nineties. Leo Netten then recalled the major decisions of the European Court of Human Rights relating to the enforcement of court decisions and the occupation of judicial officer, making the judicial officer an essential element of the Rule of Law. He said that the general phenomenon of privatization of the profession of judicial officer described by Mr Lang was observed in all the states that joined the EU since 2004 except Cyprus and Malta. This shows that the model of an independent and private judicial officer seems best suited to meet the efficiency requirements that citizens are entitled to expect, while meeting the highest security standards. Then President Netten gave an overview of the key aspects of the Guide lines of the European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice (CEPEJ), adopted on 17 December 2009 by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe. Finally, he expressed his great appreciation for the anniversary and thanked the Estonian Chamber for the invitation: "Your birthday is our birthday to us all, judicial officers of the world! “.
The agenda of the plenary session that followed consisted of two parts. Initially it included presentations from Priit Kama, Vice-Chancellor at the Ministry of Justice, Janek Pool, chair of the Bureau of the Assembly of judicial officers, Mathieu Chardon, Vaino Linde, president of the Constitutional Committee of the Parliament, and Pille Vaher, DG Justice of the European Commission.
Janek Pool presented the occupation of judicial officer in Estonia, illustrated with many facts and figures. Mathieu Chardon presented a general state of the profession in Europe, based on the data collected by the UIHJ, and also on those contained in the CEPEJ reports. Pille Vaher gave an overview of the work in progress at the European Commission, particularly those relating to the suppression of exequatur, emphasizing the role of judicial officers in the enforcement of court decisions. He expressed the appreciation of Viviane Reding, vice president of the European Commission, for the contribution of the profession of judicial officer in the construction of the European judicial area.
In the second part of the program three speakers addressed the public. Mare Pork, psychologist, spoke vividly of the difficulties judicial officers are facing in the exercise of their profession, especially with regard to stress. The two other speakers were Aavik Marko, Vice-Chancellor of the Minister of Justice and Anneli Akeland, Board Member of the Chamber of Notaries of Estonia.
Appointment is made in ten years to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of our Estonian colleagues! Meanwhile, from this year several other European countries will also celebrate the 10th anniversary of the introduction of a liberal judicial officer in their countries, starting with Romania in October 2011.