The Judicial Officer at the Heart of the Lodz Conference (Poland)

The Importance of the CEPEJ Guidelines

 

Our Polish colleagues are among the first to have gained a liberal status among the countries of the former Soviet bloc, in 2000. The judicial officers of this great country of over forty million people want to rise even more. The profession has decided to implement the objectives of the Guidelines of the European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice (CEPEJ) on enforcement adopted on 17 December 2009 by the Council of Europe. Debt collection and statements of facts are among the legitimate claims that any judicial officer is entitled to. Our Polish friends intend to fight to get satisfaction, especially as these activities exist in many countries and are recognized as particularly effective.
Fortunately, the judicial officers from Poland can now count on the support of both the authorities and academics. The regional chamber of judicial officers of Lodz was responsible for organizing the conference in this beautiful city, the third of Poland. We must acknowledge the excellent organization of this event, orchestrated by its chairman, Andrzej Ritmann and the members of his board. The conference was held in the ultra-modern premises of the Faculty of Lodz - known as "the paragraph" because of its shape that resembles the symbol - which houses 6,000 students. One hundred prestigious participants, senior judges including Michal Kloz, President of the Court of Appeal of Lodz, academics, solicitors, lawyers and judicial officers, have thus filled one of the many university lecture halls.
The UIHJ delegation consisted of Leo Netten, President, and Mathieu Chardon, 1st secretary. Leo Netten introduced the UIHJ and its role. He particularly emphasized on the CEPEJ guidelines on enforcement. Articles 33 and 34 of this founding document have once again been highlighted by the President of the UIHJ. According to both articles, the judicial officer should be the only professional qualified to carry out all enforcement actions. The text also provides that the judicial officer should be entitled to perform additional activities “tending to safeguard and secure recognition of parties' rights and aimed at expediting the judicial process or reducing the workload of the courts”. Amongst these activities, Leo Netten emphasized on statements of facts and debt collection.
Krzysztok Kwiatkowski welcomed the organization of this conference. He recalled the importance of the profession of judicial officer. "The judicial officers play an important role in the stability and the economic development of a country" said the minister of justice. He highlighted the strong links between the UIHJ and the judicial officers of Poland, hence the presence of the President of the UIHJ. Mr Kwiatkowski expressed his willingness to set up a European judicial officer, based on the French model and that of other countries. "The Polish model, he said, is inspired by the French model. I am very interested in statements of facts and their use in Poland by the judicial officers”. The Minister of Justice thanked the organizers of the conference and wished all good works. He concluded his remarks by promising that during the presidency of Poland at the Council of the European Union, spotlights would be focused on the profession of judicial officer.
Rafal Fronczek, president of the National Council of Judicial officers of Poland, thanked the Minister of Justice for these comments. He outlined the various activities of judicial officers. Today, the Polish judicial officers should have a high level of training. These are standards that have been promoted by the UIHJ. He advocated that the judicial officers should be placed on the same level as other legal professions. President Fronczek mentioned the close ties between the UIHJ and the European institutions. He thanked Leo Netten and Mathieu Chardon for their commitments.

The Interest of Statement of Facts carried Out by Judicial Officers

 

Tomasz Banach, judicial officer (Poland), acted as chairman of the conference. Zbigniew Rau, professor at the Faculty of Lodz, director of the Research Centre Alexis de Tocqueville, presented the philosophical vision on Europe of this great French political thinker, historian and writer of the 19th Century.
Then, Andrzej Marciniak, professor at the Law Faculty of Lodz, drew a picture of the enforcement of court decisions in the European Union. Professor Marciniak presented the five European regulations on enforcement that make up the legislative corpus the European judicial officers need to master. They are:
- Council Regulation (EC) No 44/2001 of 22 December 2000 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters
- Regulation (EC) No 805/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 April 2004 Creating a European Enforcement Order for Uncontested Claims
- Regulation (EC) No 1896/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2006 Creating a European Order for Payment Procedure
- Regulation (EC) No 861/2007 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 July 2007 Establishing a European Small Claims Procedure
- Council Regulation (EC) No 4/2009 of 18 December 2008 on jurisdiction, applicable law, recognition and enforcement of decisions and cooperation in matters relating to maintenance obligations
Following him, Mathieu Chardon presented the statements of facts. A study on the profession of judicial officer was conducted by the UIHJ in 2006 among forty members. Twenty-five reported carrying out statements of facts. Of these twenty-five countries, twenty indicated that this activity was important or common. The first secretary of the UIHJ said in turn that the CEPEJ guidelines encourage States to promote judicial officers carrying out statements of facts. He then described the role of judicial officers in the establishment of this type of evidence widely recognized in several legal systems that plays a tangible role to unclog courts. Our colleague quoted Rachida Dati, Justice Minister of France, who declared on 13 December 2007, at the Annual Forum of the French judicial officers in Paris: "In practise, the reports you make serve as evidence. This comes from your thoroughness and professionalism. A statement of facts can be trusted. For all, it is fair evidence." Mathieu Chardon then presented numerous examples of statements of facts, to emphasize all their practical and extreme diversity.
Finally, Slawomir Cieslak, law professor at the University of Lodz, spoke about the impact of insolvency proceedings in other countries of the European Union in the process of enforcement of court decisions in Poland.
Following the presentations, wide and enthralling discussions took place with the audience. For nearly two hours, participants asked many questions and made many comments on statements of facts, their role in procedural law and the role of the judicial officer in this activity. Without the obligation to close the amphitheatre, discussions would probably have continued for a long time as the subject generated enthusiasm, ideas and proposals.
During the discussions, Professor Marciniak estimated the realization of statements of facts in Poland which existed although not used in Poland should be promoted. "That should be included in the Code of Civil Procedure and the Code of Criminal Procedure," he said. The judge needs to be surrounded by experts. The judicial officer has the advantage of being much cheaper.
The conference was a great success. It brought together around the profession of judicial officer all players in the legal world in a very professional atmosphere, a very high scientist level, very friendly and very constructive.
The UIHJ extends its warmest congratulations to our Polish colleagues and in particular Andrzej Ritmann, great organizer of the event, and Rafal Fronczek, president of the National Council of Judicial officers in Poland.
During their short stay in Lodz, Leo Netten and Mathieu did visit the brand new Court of Appeal of Lodz and met its President, Michal Kloz. President Netten was particularly impressed by the modernity of this high-tech jurisdiction.