A Model For Judicial Officers On A European Level
The meeting was held in Sopot, in the buildings of the Currenda company. This company, which is owned by the National Council of the Judicial Officers of Poland (NCJOP), is charged with the publishing of professional books and magazines (the magazine of the UIHJ, “UIHJ Magazine”, is printed there) as well as software, of which some are designed for the use of the profession.
The reform of 24 May 2007, which came into effect on 28 December 2007, brought many changes to the 29 September 1997 Act on Polish judicial officers and enforcement. The NCJOP criticises this reform. The new law removes the principle of territoriality attached to a jurisdiction. Our fellow-members consider that the independence of the judicial officers is at stakes, some controls on the profession being ensured by judges from now on. Also, the new law introduced a principle of remuneration on the basis of “No Cure No Pay” which is considered to be unacceptable. Indeed, when a judicial officer does not manage to carry out the court decision, he cannot charge any fee to the creditor for his work and time and can only be reimbursed for his expenses. A meeting was held in Paris in March 2008 between the UIHJ and the representatives of the NCJOP in order to organise a program aiming at proposing reforms to ensure that Poland has an occupation of judicial officer which is harmonised on a European level and in accordance with the requirements of a fully independent and responsible profession.
The UIHJ was represented by its president, Jacques Isnard, its 1st secretary, Mathieu Chardon, also expert at the Council of Europe, and by Francoise Andrieux, representative.
The representatives of the NCJOP were Gabriel Pietrasik, chairman, Michal Redelbach, Andrejz Kulagowski, vice-chairmen, Rafal Fronczek, secretary, and Pawel Gintowt, president of the National Revision Commission. Were also present Zenon Knypl, former judge at the High Court of Gdansk, Grzegorsz Julke, lecturer of civil procedure at the Faculty of Law of Gdansk, Jan Treder, president of Currenda, Aleksandra Pelcer, judicial officer in Sopot, and Soraya Barrow-Kozik, assistant at Currenda.
In his welcome short speech, Gabriel Pietrasik thanked the UIHJ delegation for its presence and support. The president of the NCJOP evoked the idea of the creation of a model of judicial officer which could be a solution for all the judicial officers in Europe. “It is not about implementing this everywhere but we hope that the countries will consider taking this model as a starting point” he specified. “It is within this framework that we wish to know the conditions of exercise of the occupation of judicial officer in France”.
Thorough Knowledge Of French Laws
The debates turned around a series of topics and sub topics prepared by the NCJOP and submitted to Francoise Andrieux and Mathieu Chardon. They were chaired by Michal Redelbach and covered all aspects of the profession in France:
- The organisation of the legal system
- The statute of the judicial officer
- Activities of the judicial officers
- The jurisdiction of the judicial officers
- The legal base of enforcement
- The creation and suppression of the offices of judicial officer
- Financing of the activity of the judicial officer
- The control of the activities of the judicial officers
- The liability of the judicial officer
- The professional organisation and the independence of the judicial officers
- The Social Security and the professional protection systems
The Polish fellow-members had at their disposal the polish translations of the whole of the texts relating to the occupation of judicial officer in France. Submitted during two days to a fire of very relevant questions all on practical and theoretical aspects, the experts of the UIHJ thus could appreciate the thorough knowledge of French laws on behalf of their interlocutors. The debates appeared very enriching for all the participants.
President Isnard insisted on the need for the judicial officers to develop the axis of training. “Training allows the judicial officers to exert the whole of the activities mentioned in the UIHJ project of a Multi-Field Judicial Officer presented at the time of the permanent council of the UIHJ in November 2006, which includes 16 points” he indicated ( http://www.uihj.com/rubrique.php?ID=1015931&lg=fr; http://www.uihj.com/rubrique.php?ID=1015931&lg=ang)
No Cure No Pay!
At the end of the debates, an assessment of the Polish law on judicial officers was made by Jacques Isnard. He said that there is a difference on the conception of the statute of the profession between France and Poland. The explanations given by our Polish fellow-members indicate that in Poland the judicial officer exerts on a purely private basis functions which relate to a public service and that they are for this reason subjected to the direct control of the judge. In France, the judicial officers have a statute of “officier ministeriel”. They are independent and free while being subjected to a permanent and full civil, penal and professional liability. “Thus, the criticism which one can make of the Polish system is the lack of independence between the judicial officers and the authorities and the Judges” declared the president of the UIHJ. Then he stressed that “Poland is not in conformity with the recommendation (Rec) 2003/17 of 9 September2003 of the Committee of the Ministers of the Council of Europe to the Member States on enforcement.” And to explain: “The interaction between the judge and the judicial officer is not clearly stated. The system “No Cure No pay” is not acceptable. The judicial officer does not have an obligation to succeed in his mission. He must do everything to carry out the court decision but he does not have to pay the consequences of the insolvency of the debtor. Recommendation 17 prescribed that the judicial officer must receive a fair remuneration for the activities which he undertakes. Poland is an important country by its size, population, and by the number of its judicial officers. It is thus necessary to plan to have a modern statute opened and turned towards the future. It is necessary to consider training and communication. For that, one needs financial means, and to see what is feasible on the level of contributions. “
These two days will be followed with other meetings. A seminar is already planned from 12 to 16 May 16 in Wisla (Poland). It will bring together representatives of the profession, as well as Law professors and Judges, in order to discuss the reforms for the law on judicial officers. A visit of a Polish delegation in Marseilles (France) was also decided for the end of June. In parallel, the UIHJ will also organise a visit in Belgium and in the Netherlands for the Polish fellow-members. Lastly, it was decided to meet annually with the NCJOP to discuss the evolution of the situation and the state of the occupation of judicial officer in Europe.
