Permanent Council in Madrid on 29 and 30 November 2012: the Permanent Council of the 60th Anniversary of the UIHJ

 

 

Madrid was chosen to host the next International Congress of the UIHJ in 2015. In anticipation of this global event, the General Council of the Spanish Procuradores proposed the board of the UIHJ to hold its Permanent Council in the Spanish capital. The board of the UIHJ having responded favourably to this invitation, representatives of fifty member countries altered their usual route to Paris to head towards Madrid and enjoy its many charms and advantages, including its legendary hospitality.
The opening ceremony of the Permanent Council was held in the presence of Alberto Ruiz Gallardon, Minister of Justice of Spain, Juan Carlos Estévez Fernández-Novoa, President of the General Council of Spanish Procuradores and Leo Netten, President of the UIHJ.
Juan Carlos Estévez Fernández-Novoa greeted the delegations. He welcomed them in Spain and wished for a pleasant stay in Madrid. The president of the Procuradores spoke of the current reforms of the Spanish judicial system and the profession of Procurador. He praised the UIHJ and its president Leo Netten, for relationships that have developed over the last twenty years between the organization and the profession of Procurador. Mr Estévez Fernández-Novoa announced that President Netten would soon receive the Spanish Cross of Honour, a very high honour bestowed by the Spanish authorities.
Leo Netten welcomed everyone to Madrid. He thanked the General Council of Procuradores for its hospitality. He also thanked Alberto Ruiz Gallardon for his participation in the opening of the permanent council. He noted that this mark of interest "reinforces our actions to go farther in the service of the profession that we have the honour to represent at international level."
Then President Netten said that the events for the UIHJ during the year 2012 were extremely rich in this area. He discussed relations with the World Bank, UNCITRAL, the International Monetary Fund, the WAEMU, OHADA, or the Centro de Estudios de Justicia de Las Americas and the missions that took place. "Today, our expertise and our reputation are such that it is the UIHJ that is now approached for projects. This we owe to all those years building relationships and contacts around the world. We are present in many projects funded by the European Union and other global organizations. The UIHJ now has a team of fifty experts who travel the world to work in the same direction: to ensure the development and harmonization of the profession", said the president of the UIHJ. He also recalled that the UIHJ is present in many European projects, such as the Working Group on attachment of bank accounts.
Having concluded that the Procuradores should play a more important role in the service of legal proceedings - and the EU Regulation 1393/2007 which was shortly to be revised - Leo Netten congratulated the General Council of Procuradores for the Price of Quality Justice in 2012 it had received in the "Justice transparency" section (read the article here).
President Netten concluded his speech by explaining that, at the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the UIH, "Our union is yours. This is the choice we all have. For us, things have been perfectly clear for sixty years. For sixty years, our union is our unity and unity is our strength, it is YOUR strength. This is the strength of all the judicial officers of the world... "
Alberto Ruiz Gallardon indicated that judicial reform is underway in Spain. He justified the need for this reform because of various factors, including the excessive slowness of various current procedures. "If what the law repairs comes too late, it loses much of its usefulness," he said. Justice is a key element to recover economic competitiveness in the current crisis which touches Spain. Judicial officers have a great responsibility in this area. The Minister of Justice stated that he appreciated the attitude of the Spanish Procuradores who agreed to take on new responsibilities, mainly in the field of service of documents and enforcement. He said that we should not hesitate to learn from other countries where the profession of judicial officer has a high level of development. "It would be foolish not to take advantage of other highly trained and skilled professionals, who may have very different functions," he mentioned. Mr Ruiz Gallardon announced the strengthening of the institutional role of judicial officers directly related to the exercise of justice. Addressing the Procuradores he completed his very positive speech by saying: "You will have more important tasks than those you fulfil today. In 2015, you will meet and you will see the evolution that has taken place. "
 
Concrete Work to Harmonize the Profession of Judicial Officer and Enforcement Procedures in Europe

 

Then President Netten came back to the actions of the UIHJ. On the Stobra projects decided by the European Council of Presidents of the UIHJ, he said that four meetings were held in 2012. Stobra projects are intended to "work on practical level to harmonize the profession of judicial officer and enforcement procedures in Europe." They are based on the Guidelines on Enforcement of the CEPEJ adopted on 17 December 2009 by the Committee of Ministers of the 47 member states of the Council of Europe. Leo Netten reminded once again that the UIHJ had actively participated in the drafting of these guidelines. It contains all the principles and ideas promoted and developed by the Union for years. He continued: "We are totally in line with these guidelines. Once adopted, we told you they would constitute not only a European standard but also a worldwide standard. At first, we recorded some skeptical reactions or even compassionate smiles. Today, this idea is gaining ground. Our vision was good". In November 2012, the UIHJ was received at the European Commission by Lotte Knudsen, Directorate General Justice, to present the projects of the UIHJ. Ms Knudsen expressed her enthusiasm for this very pragmatic approach. What is appreciated by the European Commission, said President Netten, "is the ability for the UIHJ, as the sole international organization representing the profession, to offer standard models based on best practices."
In Southern Africa, the CADAT program - the African equivalent of Stobra - will be developed in 2013 he announced. In Latin America, he mentioned the recent cooperation agreement between the UIHJ and the University of Mendoza (Argentina), a premiere, to be followed by others.
The President of the UIHJ also indicated that a working group had been established to analyze the huge database the Grand questionnaire of the UIHJ constitutes. A report will be prepared by taking the model of the CEPEJ report on European judicial systems, according to the chapters of the CEPEJ guidelines.
Then Leo Netten recalled how dangerous the exercise of the profession of judicial officer can be. He praised the memory of those who died in tragic circumstances, and in particular the German colleague Wolfgang Person, aged 47 and a father and his locksmith, both summarily executed in the exercise of their functions in Karlsruhe on 4 July by a madman during an eviction procedure. President Netten also recalled the memory of Avraam Pasoglu, former president of the National Chamber of judicial officers of Greece, who passed away a few weeks ago, and the husband of former President of the National Chamber of judicial officers of Benin Claudine Mougni, and Bernard Rémuzat, member of the board of the National Chamber of the judicial officers of France, who died a few days ago. A minute of silence was observed in their memory.

The 60th Anniversary of the UIHJ

 

The President of the UIHJ then stated that the UIHJ would make a presentation on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the CEPEJ in Strasbourg, at the request of its chairman, John Stacey, to explain how the guidelines on enforcement are one essential tool for judicial officers. "Once again, the Union will be at the forefront of the European scene. This is great news for all of us" welcomed the President of the UIHJ.
Still on the issue of birthday celebrations, he mentioned the 15th anniversary of the profession of liberal judicial officer in Poland and the 125th anniversary of the occupation of High Court Enforcement Officer in England and Wales.
Finally, President Netten did not fail to recall that the UIHJ celebrated its sixtieth anniversary this year. To celebrate this event, he said that a book was written to tell the story of the UIHJ since its inception, illustrated with numerous photographs and documents, an outstanding book that will go down in the "long history of our great organization", written by Jacques Isnard, former President and Honorary President of the UIHJ, Françoise Andrieux, general secretary of the UIHJ and Mathieu Chardon, first secretary of the UIHJ, with a foreword by Hans van Loon, Secretary General of The Hague Conference on Private International Law.
"I wish you all a great permanent council, and a happy birthday to the UIHJ!" concluded President Netten.
After the call of delegations and the approval of the minutes of the November 2011 Permanent Council, approved unanimously except by France, Serbia was welcomed as a full member of the UIHJ. Serbia was already a member but the implementation of the liberal judicial officer in this country in 2012 helped to welcome Serbia in this new capacity. Jos Uitdehaag, first secretary of the UIHJ, who has completed countless missions in Serbia, was the “godfather” of the event. Vojkan Simic, Deputy Minister of Justice of Serbia, presented the candidacy of Serbia. He said he was convinced of the importance of the implementation of the liberal judicial officer in Serbia for the benefit of the Serbian judicial system and in the interest of citizens and businesses. Following him, the president of the National Chamber of judicial officers of Serbia thanked the UIHJ for its support throughout the process that led the profession of judicial officer in Serbia to access a private status. The National Chamber of judicial officers of Serbia was established on 14 May 2012. There are now sixty-five judicial officers in Serbia. Thirty-five judicial officers should be appointed shortly. The Serbian President explained the reasons that led him to sign the Charter of Cooperation with the UIHJ: to allow links between Serbia and other systems of judicial officers in the world and the harmonization of the profession worldwide. It is after these very noticeable words that the charter of cooperation was signed, under the applauses of the assembly. President Netten sent his warmest congratulations to Serbia.
The traditional activity report of the UIHJ was introduced by Mathieu Chardon and Françoise Andrieux. According to this report, participants learned that, including those that were organized by the UIJH, the UIHJ had participated in 109 international events during the year, an impressive figure that demonstrates an extreme dynamism, despite very limited means.
Then Jacques Isnard, Françoise Andrieux and Mathieu Chardon presented the book they wrote to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the UIHJ. Ten years ago, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the UIHJ, a book was written by Jacques Isnard and Jean-Paul Spinelli, secretary of the UIHJ. This book was the basis for the authors of the current version of "Once Upon a Time the Union...". This large format book of nearly two hundred pages abundantly illustrated chronicles sixty years of international expertise and actions of the UIHJ at the service of the profession of judicial officer. The first copy of this book was symbolically handed over to Yacine Sene, former vice-president of the UIHJ and former president of the National Chamber of Judicial Officers of Senegal. Then each participant received a copy of this wonderful history book. Meanwhile, René Duperray, former general secretary of the UIHJ, presented a film on the UIHJ he had prepared for the occasion.

A broad View of Enforcement

 

After the festivities, Leo Netten returned to the relationship between the UIHJ and international institutions and organizations. In this regard, the International Congress of Cape Town, which was held in May 2012, provided a forum for main representatives of the Hague Conference on Private International Law, the CEPEJ, the OHADA and the WAEMU (read the article here).
Françoise Andrieux presented the European Law Institute (ELI) recently created of which the UIHJ is a founding member. The Secretary-General stated that the task of UIHJ in the ELI would be to prepare and present a project in relation to the goals of the UIHJ and benefit from powerful support that can represent the ELI to support its objectives.
On the World Bank, UNCITRAL, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Sue Collins (USA), member of the board of the UIHJ and Jos Uitdehaag gave a report on recent activities of the UIHJ with these organizations. Jos Uitdehaag participated in October 2012 at a seminar organized by the IMF in Washington DC (USA). He was joined the following week by Sue Collins and... Hurricane Sandy! Fortunately, the postponed meetings did take place after the hurricane. Both UIHJ experts met Mr Cissé, Deputy General Counsel of the Legal Department of the World Bank. Mr Cissé invited the UIHJ to participate in the Justice Week, which was to be held in December 2012 in Washington. Jos Uitdehaag and Sue Collins also met representatives of the IFC, who declared their interest in the UIHJ. IFC has projects and funding in all countries but lacks enforcement experts. These meetings were very productive and promising. Another meeting was held at the World Bank on judicial reforms in different parts of the world. Concerning the relationship between UIHJ and IMF, the first secretary of the UIHJ reminded that they exist for over a year due to the global financial crisis. This crisis has resulted in the awareness that it cannot be solved only in terms of purely economic criteria. Attention should be given to the judicial systems and see what their impact on businesses and the economy are. Effective enforcement of judicial decisions is an important factor to solve the economic crisis. In this regard, the UIHJ is a partner in the reform of the judicial system in Portugal between the Portuguese government and the troika formed by the European Union, the IMF and the European Central Bank.
Leo Netten insisted that we should have a broader view of the enforcement of judgments. We should go beyond notions that separate amicable from judicial debt collection. We should refer to the collection of debts in a comprehensive manner. This is known as Credit Management. In ten years, said the president of the UIHJ, we will speak of Credit Management. There will be no enforcement without Credit management. We should see things from enforcement to the source of enforcement: debt. What can be done to enforce more efficiently? What can be done to obtain a judgment faster? What can be done to avoid the judgment? What can we do to avoid debt? "The debtor should understand that if he pays sooner, it will cost less. We should become Credit managers. Our Polish friends have understood this. This is why they proposed the Stobra 7 on debt collection ", said the president of the UIHJ.

Reforming the OHADA Uniform Act on Enforcement Procedures

 

On UNCITRAL Sue Collins recalled that the UIHJ has a representation in New York as part of the annual meeting of the United Nations, for the non-governmental organizations to which it belongs. The UIHJ was asked recently to become a member of UNCITRAL (read the article here).
The UIHJ seats in Committee No. 6 (Security Interest Committee). For the past decade the UNCITRAL has been working to setting up rules and laws for countries to establish a personal properties registry in their countries. They have finished writing the rules and are working on a model law for implementation of the rules, a Tool Kit. At the UNCITRAL meeting, Sue Collins was in relation with several other international organizations. Finally, our colleague indicated that the UIHJ was invited to participate in a high-level meeting on the rule of law at the UN headquarters in New York.
In addition to this presentation, President Netten said that the issue of the rule of law is fundamental and that the enforcement of justice is central to this issue. This is why we are present in the work of the World Bank and UNCITRAL.
Louis-Raymond Maranda (Canada), secretary of the UIHJ, then reported the contacts established with the National Federation of Trusted Third Parties (FNTC) of which the UIHJ is a member. He stated that the Chamber of Judicial Officers of Quebec joined the college 4 of FNTC for regulated professions, and is the official representative of FNTC on the North American continent. The National Association of Professional Process Servers (NAPPS) will soon join the FNTC according to Louis-Raymond Maranda. He concluded by reaffirming the importance for the UIHJ to be present to participate in the creation of this new space being created, "the space of Information Technology."
Marc Schmitz (Belgium), member of the board of the UIHJ, spoke about the organization of a conference in 2013 in Bangkok (Thailand) with support from the Legal Execution Department of the Ministry of Justice of Thailand, to establish contacts with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), an organization created in 1967 with ten countries (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam). The UIHJ being present in Asia in three countries (Dubai, Kazakhstan and Thailand), the region covered by the ASEAN is of great interest for the UIHJ.
Then Honoré Aggrey, Vice President of the UIHJ, addressed the Ohada, WAEMU, the African Union and the organization of the 3rd Africa Europe meetings of the judicial officers to be held in Lome (Togo), from 25 to 27 September 2013. The OHADA is an example in the world in terms of integration, said Honoré Aggrey. The Ufohja seminar was held in Cotonou in February 2012 (read the article here) yielded valuable information concerning the reform of the Ohada Uniform Act on enforcement. In Cape Town, Dorothé Sossa Cossi, Permanent Secretary of OHADA, said the UIHJ should be associated with this reform.
The West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) includes eight countries in the region, seven of which are located in the Ohada area. Contacts that have been made have resulted in rapidly integrating the UIHJ as an observer member of the WAEMU. The draft uniform act of judicial officer Africa could be introduced within the WAEMU.

Cadat Projects for Africa

 

Then André Sama Botcho, president of the National Chamber of Judicial Officers of Togo, presented the 3rd Africa-Europe meetings of judicial officers to be held in the "Switzerland of Africa" in the capital, "Lomé the Beautiful". Togo is a country of peace, prosperity and hospitality, said President Sama Botcho inviting all judicial officers to take part in this great event, "to achieve integration as intended by the UIHJ." Leo Netten stressed that Europe and Africa were almost equal in terms of member countries in the UIHJ. He predicted that these meetings would be the highlight of the UIHJ in 2013.
Johan Fourie (South Africa), Special Advisor to the board of the UIHJ, discussed relations with SADC in 2012. He also explained that a Cadat (acronym made from Cape Town, Dakar and Tunis to symbolize a south / north Africa axis, a harmonization project of the profession of judicial officer and enforcement procedures on the African continent) meeting was held in Nairobi (Kenya), and brought together representatives of countries in this area of Africa: Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda.
Honoré Aggrey returned to CADAT projects. He announced that the project will be broken down into seven points that would be implemented in the coming years. These seven points are:
- The harmonized status of judicial officer in Africa
- The service of documents in Africa
- The African Enforcement Order
- The status of the African judicial officer
- IT and new technologies for the profession of judicial officer in Africa
- Strengthening and harmonization of ethical rules for the profession of judicial officer in Africa
- Training of African judicial officers
Mohamed Chérif, Vice Treasurer of the UIHJ, said a conference was recently held in Meknes (Morocco) by the Maghreb Union of judicial officers with the support of the UIHJ. An international conference is to be held in February 2013 in Oran (Algeria). This will be the second International Forum of Oran.
In concluding this African chapter Vice-President Aggrey urged countries to mobilize to play a leading role in Africa. "Africa is changing. We should be everywhere "he said.
Sue Collins then mentioned her missions in the Caribbean and the seminar she attended in Bermuda, at the invitation of Christophe Bernasconi, Deputy Secretary General of the Hague Conference on Private International Law (read the article here).
Artur Parfenchikov, chief judicial officer of the Russian Federation, presented the report of activities of the Federal Enforcement Service of the Russian Federation, of which he is the director. He showed and commented a film about training of the "Green Berets" of the Federal Enforcement Service, an elite unit that occurs especially when the security of the state is at stake and also protects the judicial officers in case of dangerous missions.

Stobra Projects for Europe

 

In the afternoon, Bernard Menut, first vice-president of the UIHJ presented in detail the seven Stobra projects implemented by the Council of the European Presidents of the UIHJ and its objectives, methodology and agenda. Major international organizations, major funders such as the IMF, the World Bank and the European Development Bank, fly to the rescue of struggling economies such as Greece, Portugal and others. Behind the economy is the legal aspect. Those who bring money to help countries facing problems understood that amongst the means to help a country is the law. Within the law are the enforcement of court decisions and the greater efficiency of courts. These large organizations are aimed at those who are specialists on these subjects, as the UIHJ which provides its expertise. Behind the Stobra projects, is the idea to define for specific topics what the rules of tomorrow should be, the rules that will be considered by these organizations when they bring their economic aid to countries. The first vice-president of the UIHJ gave the example of the World Bank, whose objective is to lend money and facilitate economic exchanges and trade, and has been engaged in the topic of auctions. This is an activity that falls within the profession of judicial officer. The World Bank believes that if we improve the treatment of auctions we will improve enforcement and also the return of money from debtors in the economic system. The idea is to have the money circulate as soon as possible. Stobra now includes seven themes which are to create a tool that will be used by these organizations. The seven themes are:
- Stobra 1: enforcement on immovable assets
- Stobra 2: Service of documents
- Stobra 3: Transparency of assets
- Stobra 4: Statements of facts
- Stobra 5: Training
- Stobra 6: Information Technology and Communication
- Stobra 7: Debt Collection
Taking the example of the enforcement on immovable assets, First Vice-President Menut said that through the Stobra 1 project the UIHJ is working on what the attachment on immovable assets should be, what the common harmonized rules across countries should be, and who should conduct the attachment. This is about ensuring that the judicial officers are at the heart of the deployment of these activities, not imposing anything to countries. Guidelines will be developed and promoted by the UIHJ. They will constitute the path that could be followed by countries. How can we implement these guidelines? asked Bernard Menut. This can be done in the framework of expertise required to the UIHJ by a country, as is often the case. This can also be done through funding from an international organization that has a Tool Kit to improve the process of attachment on immovable asset. "Through these funding agencies, we can push our toolbox and have it implemented in countries" estimated Bernard Menut. For each theme, some countries are very advanced. It should be based on best practices to avoid "reinventing the wheel".

Ethics and Deontology

 

This intervention was followed by a workshop on ethics. The workshop, moderated by Françoise Andrieux, was led by Natalie Fricero, professor at the University of Nice Sophia Antipolis (France) and member of the Scientific Council of the UIHJ, and Luis Ortega Alcubierre, deputy secretary of the board of the UIHJ. Françoise Andrieux said it was shocking when enforcement was carried out without clear rules, including clear and sound rules of conduct.
A definition of deontology was first made by Luis Ortega as the science of duty. Natalie Fricero reminded that there is confusion in terms. There is first of all morality, ethics, which concerns all human beings and consisting of all the rules that allow us to define what is good and what is bad: respect of others, equal treatment of human beings, refrain from inflicting pain...  Below are professional ethics that is to say all ethical rules carried out by a profession during its mission. This conduct, which is professional ethics, changes according to the professions. Not all trades have ethics. Regulated professions having missions of general or specific interest do have transparent professional ethics. Ethics should be defined because they generate trust among citizens. Below ethics, there is discipline that is part of the conduct sanctioned by professional rules. It is also the responsibility, which is the consequence of civil and criminal professional behavior.
Generally there are codes of good conduct defined by professions. There are also laws that set standards for establishing behavior standards. A rule that seems shared worldwide is the duty of diligence, promptness. This is a major concern for all States. The relationship between judges and other professionals were also discussed. The workshop was the subject of numerous interventions by participants from various continents. According to the workshop, it was established that one of the fundamental common ethical rules that may the enforcement conducted by a judicial officer should be carried out in compliance with the law. A second standard could concern the financial aspect and financial controls of the judicial officer. Another aspect could involve the inability of the judicial officer to buy directly or indirectly the goods he sells through an auction when he was the one who attached the goods. Another point concerns the professional secrecy which is required from the judicial officer, particularly in the context of searching for information on the debtor's assets. Françoise Andrieux said that the reflections made during this workshop would be used to feed the ethics chapter to be included in the Global Code of enforcement on which the UIHJ is currently working.
Luis Ortega then presented the report of the mission of the UIHJ in Argentina which led to the twinning on 2 October 2012 between the UIHJ and the University of Mendoza (read the article here). 
Marc Schmitz went on to say that this twining agreement will allow the development of joint projects: organization of courses, symposia, study days, forums, seminars, surveys, systems training, publications or exchanges of experts. Through twinning the UIHJ thus obtains access to libraries, collections of legal journals and databases of universities. He added that other cooperation agreements are sought with other universities worldwide, including through the professors of the Scientific Council of the UIHJ.
Our colleague carried on with the contest that was created to recognize the work done by students on topics proposed by the UIHJ. Due to the disappointing quality of work, the board of the UIHJ decided to create a thesis prize that will recognize the work already carried out when they have a scientific interest for the profession of judicial officer. Finally, Marc Schmitz reported the requests for information made by many students to the UIHJ as part of their research work. The board decided that the students would be asked to provide the UIHJ with the results of their work. "These measures will strengthen the scientific level within the UIHJ," he said.

UIHJ-EuroDanube, UIHJ-EuroMed UIHJ-EuroScandinavie

 

On Friday, Zoltan Schmidt (Hungary), Secretary of UIHJ-EuroDanube gave an account of the activities of this branch of the UIHJ during the past year. In the Czech Republic, changes are underway for 2013. They provide important developments in technology. In Slovakia, the National Chamber of judicial officers is in contact with the authorities. The common goal is to reduce the length of procedures for increased efficiency. In Latvia, the rate of judicial officers has been modified in case of insolvency of debtors. Creditor groups are exempt from payment of advance monies when assigning cases to judicial officers. The National Chamber of judicial officers of Latvia is going before the Constitutional Council to change this legal provision it considers a source of iniquity between creditors. In Estonia e-Enforcement will be operational from 1 January 2013. In Poland, the number of judicial officers has increased, in a sometimes tricky political climate. In Romania, the situation is worrisome. Bank recovery agents have now become judicial officers. The number of judicial officers has consequently risen from 450 to 900. This helps to further impoverish a number of judicial officers who may find themselves with only one hundred cases per year, which does not allow them to live. In Serbia, since May 2012, the new Act on enforcement came into force. This law created a mixed system of state employed (238) and liberals (65) judicial officials. Zoltan Schmidt said that UIHJ-EuroDanube has decided priorities for the next three years. Work will focus on e-Justice, e-auctions as well as electronic service and transparency of assets. In Hungary, the progress in this area is significant.
Françoise Andrieux gave an account of the activities of UIHJ-EuroMed. The ninth session was held in Marseilles (France). The main theme concerned guarantees provided to creditors in the Mediterranean countries. She recalled that four recommendations were made at the end of the session (read the article here). The next session will be held in October 2013 in Greece.
Olof Dahnel, Permanent Representative of the UIHJ for the Scandinavian countries, in turn presented the report of activities in this region. In Finland, the number of enforcement cases has increased by 16% for the first six months of the year compared to last year. Despite this increase, the number of offices will be greatly diminished, from 178 to 63. The next seminar will take place in Turku (Finland) from 4 to 6 September 2013. In Norway, it is planned to reduce the number of “manual” files by strengthening IT systems. In Denmark, a bill for the service of documents is underway. It is proposed that this service can be conducted by telephone without the consent of the person concerned by the service. Also a message will be placed on the recipient's mailbox. It should also be possible to send reminders via SMS. In Sweden, news concerns the Olsby v. Sweden case, a judgment of the European Court of Human Rights of 21 June 2012. This judgment states that the Swedish Code of Enforcement includes measures relating to appeals which violate Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights. This judgment concerned the profession of judicial officer as it was made at the occasion of a challenge to a bank account attachment. Mid-October 2012 a symposium was organized by the profession on the consequences of this decision. Finally, Olof Dahnell reported the two ongoing projects with Georgia in which the Enforcement Service of Sweden is involved.
In response to the announcement of the possibility in Denmark to serve documents by telephone, Bernard Menut proposed to involve this country in the Stobra project on service of documents meaning and requested that the UIHJ is informed on the result of this bill.

Global Code, Vade-Mecum and e-Book

 

On the Global Code, Françoise Andrieux recalled that the first work was presented in Cape Town. The code name was retained for the time even if the works involve principles of enforcement in civil matters. In terms of methodology, the articles are written. They are accompanied by explanatory or supportive notes into four parts: recommendations of the Council of Europe, principles of the European Union, principles adopted by international institutions and principles of national law, which include texts law, jurisprudence and doctrine. The work is then sent to all the members of the Scientific Council of the UIHJ, responsible for providing their input. Items are in the first phase of comments. A monitoring cell has been established to collect comments and amend the articles. This unit consists of three professors of the Scientific Council of the UIHJ, Natalie Fricero, Frédérique Ferrand, Aida Kemelmajer de Carlucci, as well as Guillaume Payan, UIHJ consultant, Françoise Andrieux and Mathieu Chardon,
The fifth Training Day of judicial officers took place in Brussels in March 2012. It enjoyed great success with 130 participants from 22 nationalities, including Armenia, Moldova, Ivory Coast and Togo. A workshop was held on e-Learning. The Handbook on service of documents prepared by Mathieu Chardon and Fanny Cornette, UIHJ consultant, were presented (read the article here).
Honoré Aggrey gave an update on the Training Unit of African judicial officers (Ufohja), formed by the UIHJ, the concerned African countries and the National School of Procedure of Paris. The 30th seminar was held in Cotonou (Benin) in February 2012. Participatory approach has attracted much interest from the participants.
Mathieu Chardon said the printing of Juris Union No. 6 was completed. This issue is devoted to the execution of judgments in Africa, America and Europe. Then the first secretary of the UIHJ evoked the Global library of the UIHJ, a project that was set aside temporarily. Contacts were made recently with legal publishers on the occasion of a legal book fair, who all expressed strong interest to work with the UIHJ to build this global bibliography of works relating to the profession of judicial officer and enforcement. Following him, Jos Uitdehaag explained the principles of the e-Book of the UIHJ. Tool Kits are designed at the occasion of various projects in which the UIHJ is involved with international organizations and institutions such as USAID, the Council of Europe, the European Union, the World Bank, the IMF... The first secretary of the UIHJ and Bernard Menut made the list of these projects. This list contains more than fifty pages. How to develop Tool Kits on judicial reforms based on the experience gained by the UIHJ? This information should be made available to countries. He reported about 500 pages of information already collected that relate primarily to Europe.
Louis-Raymond Maranda presented the work on the establishment of a Global Week of Legal Professions, a project initiated by the UIHJ over a year ago. Agreements in principle have already been given by the International Union of Notaries, the European Union of Clerks, lawyers and judges. This large-scale project concerns all legal professions in the world. The goal is to register this week on the UN calendar.
Juraj Podkonicky, UIJH Treasurer, presented the communication plan for the UIHJ. He noted that the communication should address directly to the judicial officers of the member countries, and international institutions and organizations the UIHJ is in contact with. It was decided to try to find a partner who would help the UIHJ in this project. Juraj Podkonicky announced that the UIHJ magazine would in future be published in electronic form only, for cost reasons. However, a Yearbook of annual activities and projects of the UIHJ will be issued.
Countries having made the request presented their reports. The entire content of these reports, when handed over to the UIHJ is available electronically from the Secretariat of the UIHJ. Benin, represented by Monique Kotchoa Fahun, Vice-President of the National Chamber of Judicial Officers of Benin, said that major reforms have taken place in the justice sector, including the Code of Civil Procedure. Training financed by the World Bank will be followed by the judicial officers. Jean-Daniel Lachkar, president of the National chamber of the judicial officers of France, spoke about the achievements and future plans of France, at domestic, European and international levels.
Thailand has provided the UIHJ with the account of the activities of the Department of judicial enforcement. Then Walter Gietmann, President of the Chamber of judicial officers of Germany, reported the reform of civil enforcement procedures which will be applicable in 2013. The objectives of this reform are diverse, including a more efficient search for information about the debtor's assets, a modernization of enforcement proceedings, or an increase in the powers of judicial officers.
Jos Uitdehaag discussed the “Filter model” in the Netherlands (read the article here).
Abdelaziz Fouganni, vice president of the National Chamber of judicial officers of Morocco informed of on-going reforms in his country and the visit of UIHJ and CEPEJ experts in the context of these reforms (read the article here).
Following these presentations, Mathieu Chardon recalled the issues and outcomes of the Cape Town Congress of May 2012.
Finally, Guranda Gogdlize (Georgia) said that the Spring European Permanent Council of the UIHJ will be held in the capital of Georgia, Tbilisi, from 24 to 26 April 2013, organized by the National Bureau of Enforcement of Georgia. She assured the audience that everything would be done for the organization of this event to be perfect and for everyone to enjoy the great Georgian hospitality and all the amenities of Tbilisi.
President Netten thanked all the participants and the General Council of Procuradores and its president Juan Carlos Estévez Fernández-Novoa for the perfect organization of the Permanent Council and wished everyone a pleasant stay in the Spanish capital and a safe return in their respective countries.