The UIHJ Informs the CEPEJ of its Project of a Report on the Efficiency of Civil Enforcement Procedures and the Profession of judicial officer
The presentation of the project was made on 10 April 2013 at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg (France) during the 22nd Meeting of the CEPEJ working Group on the Evaluation of Judicial Systems
The General Secretariat of the Council of Europe invited the UIHJ to participate as an observer in this workshop to enable it to submit its project of a report on the efficiency of civil enforcement procedures and the profession of judicial officer in Europe.
In this context the UIHJ, represented by its first secretary, Mathieu Chardon, presented its new project to Hanne Juncher, Head of Justice and Legal Co-operation Department of the Council of Europe, John Stacey, President of the CEPEJ, Georg Stawa, Vice-President of the CEPEJ and the CEPEJ-GT-EVAL working group chaired by Jean-Paul Jean. Also present were Aristotelis Gavriliadis (European Commission) and Pawel Nalewajko (Council of the European Union).
On the occasion of the 21st International Congress of judicial officers held in Cape Town in May 2012, the UIHJ has presented a Grand Questionnaire on enforcement and on the profession of judicial officer answered by 50 countries. The questionnaire consists of 350 questions divided into 26 sections.
Meanwhile, at the end of 2011 the UIHJ initiated a series of projects entitled STOBRA whose purpose is to harmonize the profession of judicial officer and civil enforcement proceedings in Europe.
Currently, UIHJ collects all documentation, legislation, jurisprudence, etc. related to the chosen themes and works from the Grand Questionnaire of the UIHJ and other questionnaires prepared for the occasion. In the framework of these projects, the purpose is to identify existing best practices in enforcement of court decisions and on the profession of judicial officer in Europe to offer a model for the use of those it may concern.
The board of the UIHJ undertook an analysis of these data to highlight the situation in each state, trends and best practices that allow for everyone to be able to locate and take the necessary steps in order to elevate the profession of judicial officer and civil enforcement proceedings in Europe.
A working group was established by the UIHJ in Cyprus in September 2012 on the occasion of a conference held in Nicosia. The code name of this working group is Aphrodite Task Force, in honor of the goddess of the island. This working group is responsible for preparing a report on the efficiency of enforcement and judicial officer profession in Europe.
The report project of the UIHJ will be structured around the CEPEJ guidelines on enforcement of 17 December 2009. It consists of eight chapters:
1. Preparing to Enforcement
2. Information parties and third parties
3. Enforcement title: definition and form of the title
4. Enforcement agents
5. Carrying out enforcement
6. Costs of enforcement
7. Deadlines and reports
8. Supervision, monitoring and disciplinary procedures
The UIHJ, as a permanent observer member, follows with great interest the work of the CEPEJ in various areas, mainly those relating to the profession of judicial officer and enforcement.
The UIHJ has participated in several projects of the CEPEJ related to these areas:
- Recommendation Rec(2003)17 of the Council of Europe on 9 September 2003 on enforcement
- The work carried out by the University of Nancy and the Swiss Institute of Comparative Law in Lausanne published in 2008: "The execution of court decisions in Europe," Studies No. 8
- The guidelines of the Council of Europe on enforcement of 17 December 2009
The CEPEJ publishes every two years a report on European judicial systems. The fourth edition was published late 2012 with data 2010 (CEPEJ Studies No. 18). Chapter 13 of the report relates to the execution of court decisions.
There is a natural convergence in the objectives that have set the two organizations which are in close contact since the creation of the CEPEJ ten years ago. The UIHJ therefore calls for a strengthen cooperation with the CEPEJ for mutual enrichment for studies conducted both by the CEPEJ and the UIHJ on the theme of the efficiency of enforcement procedures and the profession of judicial officer in Europe.
