Participation of the UIJH in the 9th plenary meeting of the CEPEJ

An imposing agenda

It is always with a great interest that the UIHJ takes part twice a year in the plenary meetings of the CEPEJ, as an observant member, at the sides of European associations of bars, judges and court clerks. As usual, the UIHJ could appreciate the perfect organization of the meeting thanks to the expertise of the secretary of the CEPEJ, Stephan Leyenberger and of her Co-secretary, Muriel Décot, assisted by the ever efficient Elisabeth Heurtebise.

The UIHJ was represented by Bernard Menut, secretary of the board, and Mathieu Chardon, first secretary.

The imposing agenda covered many fields such as the process for evaluating European judicial systems, the measurement of the impact of the Council of Europe recommendations on mediation, the pilot group of the Saturn center for the judicial time management, the quality of justice, or the co-operation with the Member States, the European Union, or the observers of the CEPEJ.

In her opening speech, Maud de Boer-Buquicchio, Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe, recalled that if justice is not efficient, then it is not longer justice at all. “This explains why CEPEJ occupies such an important place in the Council of Europe family, and your activities are recognised as an important part of the Council of Europe core mandate” she indicated. Mrs de Boer-Buquicchio also addressed a message of encouragement to the Member States to profit from the possibility of a co-operation targeted on the reforms in the judicial field. In the same direction, Fausto de Santis, President of the CEPEJ, evoked the aptitude of the CEPEJ to offer its expertise to the States willing to implement judicial reforms.

For his part, Roberto Lamponi, Director of Co-operation of the Council of Europe, informed the members of the CEPEJ of the recent reorganization of the secretariat of the organization of the “Large Europe”. The Directorate General of the Legal Affairs and the Directorate General of Human rights indeed merged into the new Directorate General on Human Rights and Legal Affairs, headed by Philippe Boillat.

Need for precise data

The impact of the 2006 report in the Member States relating to the process of evaluation of the European judicial systems was lengthily discussed, everyone stressing the importance of the achieved work and the need for having precise data in order to encourage the States to always improve their judicial systems. These discussions in particular made it possible to prepare the cycle of evaluation for the years 2006-2008. For his part, Bernard Menut indicated that the UIHJ supported and appreciated the studies undertaken by the CEPEJ. “When one speaks about enforcement of a court decision, there is the factor relating to the insolvency of the debtor. One does not take account of the level of frustration of the creditor. It would be necessary to take into account the element concerning insolvency. That contributes to give a negative image of the country and of its enforcement system.” he specified.

Mr. Julien Lhuillier, researcher at the Faculty of Law of Nancy (France), coordinator of the Research Teams working on the access to justice and the enforcement of court decisions, presented the work in progress, while not failing to greet the UIHJ for his expertise in the field of the enforcement of court decisions and its assistance in his work. For the future, Mr. Lhuillier stressed that he wished to continue the profitable co-operation installed with the UIHJ, which could only be beneficial to the Council of Europe, the CEPEJ and the member states.