17th plenary meeting of the CEPEJ in Strasbourg on 28 and 29 June 2011

 

 

The European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice (CEPEJ) holds its plenary meetings twice a year. In its capacity as a permanent observer member the UIHJ is called to attend these meetings, along with representatives from each of the 47 states of the Council of Europe member states and other observers, and representatives of the European Union and the Council of Europe. The meeting, of which we must acknowledge the excellent organization and the very pleasant and constructive working atmosphere, was chaired by John Stacey, President of the CEPEJ.
Philippe Boillat, Director General of the Directorate General of Human Rights and Legal Affairs of the Council of Europe, delivered welcoming remarks to the participants. He praised the work of the CEPEJ, particularly in the light of the work of the latest report on European judicial systems. He noted that this report had had unprecedented media coverage, very broad, well beyond Europe, as the Council of Europe and the CEPEJ's expertise was required in countries like the United Arab Emirates, Brazil or Morocco. "The CEPEJ is a reference in Europe and in the world," said Mr Boillat adding that "To understand to act and reform" could be the motto of the CEPEJ. As part of the on-going structural reforms within the Council of Europe, the Director General of DG HR-LA said to the general satisfaction that justice being one of the essential pillars of the Council of Europe for the defence of human rights it would have a central place in the reforms. This should allow the CEPEJ to continue and develop its actions.
Fifteen countries presented their latest developments in the judiciary. Stéphane Leyenberger, Secretary of the CEPEJ, presented the new CEPEJ project, "Meetings of the CEPEJ," which consists of a series of awareness, training and exchanges sessions around the CEPEJ tools for professionals of justice. He invited members to be a candidate to host such events. Leo Netten then indicated that the UIHJ is used to present Recommendation Rec (2003) 17 of 9 September 2003 of the Council of Europe and the guidelines of the CEPEJ of 17 December 2009 on the implementation of the recommendation and offered its expertise.
A report on "Contractualisation of judicial processes in Europe" was presented and approved. This document should be published shortly under the "CEPEJ Studies."
Among the other topics approached were the on-going works of the working group on quality (CEPEJ-GT-QUAL), or the latest developments of the steering group SATURN.
The second day was entirely devoted to the preparation of the assessment cycle of the judicial systems 2010-2012.

The Impact of Recommendation 17 and Guidelines on Enforcement

 

As part of the cooperation with the CEPEJ, Leo Netten recalled once again the full impact of the Recommendation Rec (2003) 17 and the guidelines of the CEPEJ on enforcement and enforcement professionals which see the UIHJ as their tireless promoter. Then Mathieu Chardon presented the events that the CEPEJ and the Council of Europe could be interested in. He specifically mentioned the issue of the publication Juris Union No. 5 on the guidelines. The first secretary of the UIHJ also announced the next congress of the UIHJ in Cape Town (South Africa) in May 2012 with the theme "The judicial officer of the 21st century." He said the work undertaken by the UIHJ and its Scientific Council for the creation of a World Code of Enforcement will be presented there. He also informed the participants that the UIHJ was a founding member of the newly established European Law Institute, was also a member of the Working Group of the European Commission on the attachment of bank accounts and, finally, that on 7 October 2011, it organized a major international conference in Athens (Greece), on the role of judicial officers in the finding of evidence.