This week the European Commission adopted a package of initiatives to modernise the judicial systems of the European Union (EU). The Communication on the digitisation of justice in the EU and the new strategy on European judicial training are at the heart of this new package.

The European Commission has therefore adopted a Digital Justice Toolkit to strengthen the support to Member States in moving their national judicial systems into the digital age and to improve cross-border judicial cooperation between competent authorities at EU level.

As regards European judicial training, the Commission is empowering judges, prosecutors and legal professionals to meet the challenges of the 21st century, such as digitisation. It also aims to promote a common European judicial culture based on the rule of law, fundamental rights and mutual trust.

Věra Jourová, Vice-President for Values and Transparency, said in this regard:

“Judicial systems must keep pace with the digital transformation and meet citizens’ expectations. As national courts are also EU courts, we strongly support this new approach to digitisation of judicial systems. It will improve access to justice and cooperation in the EU’s area of freedom, security and justice and the functioning of the internal market.

Didier Reynders, Commissioner for Justice, said :

“Judges, lawyers, prosecutors – everyone working in the field of justice must face the challenges of the 21st century, including artificial intelligence, a whole new world that we must explore with full respect for fundamental rights. The recent crisis related to COVID-19 has been a strong reminder of the need for rapid digitization of justice. I am convinced that the package we have adopted today will allow citizens and businesses throughout the Union to have easy access to justice, not only off-line, but also on-line.

Digitisation of EU justice systems

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need to accelerate the digitization of justice. It has become clear that businesses and citizens must have access to justice also online, at home, from their laptops. Today’s Communication on the digitisation of justice in the EU provides a toolbox to promote the use of digital tools by Member States, in line with the principles of proportionality and subsidiarity.

Here are four of the tools presented today:

• Making digital the default option in cross-border judicial cooperation : to date, many judicial proceedings, including those that cross borders, are still conducted on paper and by post. The European Commission will prepare a legislative proposal to digitise procedures for cross-border judicial cooperation in civil, commercial and criminal matters. Adoption is expected by the end of 2021.
• Fightingcross-border crime: Eurojust’s Case Management System, which allows the Agency to cross-check different cases in order to coordinate the fight against serious cross-border crime in the EU, including terrorism, needs to be updated. In addition, the amendments to Europol’s mandate will introduce a match/non-match link between the European Public Prosecutor’s Office and Europol. Through these “hit/no hit links” between their case management systems, Eurojust, Europol and the European Public Prosecutor’s Office will be aware of ongoing investigations and prosecutions. In 2021, the Commission will also present legislative initiatives on the exchange of digital information on cross-border terrorism cases and on the establishment of a collaborative platform for joint investigation teams.
• Better access to information: electronic databases are easy to consult, minimise costs for users and are crisis-proof. Member States should therefore endeavour to digitise their registers and work towards interconnection.
• IT tools for cross-border cooperation: e-CODEX (e-Justice Communication via Online Data Exchange) is the main tool for secure cooperation in cross-border proceedings in civil, commercial and criminal matters. To date, only a few Member States use e-CODEX. With the adoption of today’s legislative proposal, the Commission intends to make e-CODEX the reference standard for secure digital communication in cross-border judicial proceedings in all Member States. From 1 July 2023, the Commission will entrust this system to the eu-LISA Agency. Another digital tool is eEDES (Electronic Evidence Exchange System), which some Member States use to exchange European investigation decisions, mutual legal assistance requests and related evidence quickly and securely in digital format rather than by post. With the legislative proposal adopted today, the Commission encourages all Member States to connect to eEDES. These IT tools will modernise EU judicial systems and generate real European added value.

These measures embody the EU’s response to the need for further digitisation of our judicial systems. They will be financed through the mechanisms available under the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) 2021-2027 and Next Generation EU.

European judicial training

The 2020 Annual Report on European Judicial Training shows that in 2019, more than 180,000 legal professionals, or 12.9% of all legal professionals in the EU, received training in EU law or in the law of another Member State. In total, since the adoption of the first judicial training strategy in 2011, 1.2 million legal professionals have been trained in Union law.

This second edition of the EU’s judicial training strategy broadens the scope of EU training opportunities for legal professionals to include new policy areas, such as digitisation and artificial intelligence, equipping them with the knowledge and skills needed to meet the challenges of the 21st century.

It also sets ambitious targets: by 2024, 65% of judges and prosecutors and 15% of lawyers will be trained each year in EU law. The strategy also supports legal professionals in the Western Balkans and other EU partner countries, Africa and Latin America. In addition, legal professionals will be able to seek training on EU law through the European Training Platform, launched today for a first trial phase and due to be fully operational in the year 2021.

Next steps

The toolbox presented in today’s Communication on the digitisation of justice will be further discussed with public administrations, the judiciary, organisations of the legal professions and other stakeholders to ensure a rapid and concrete follow-up.

The Commission and the incoming Presidency of the Council of the European Union will organise an EU conference on judicial training in spring 2021.

Background

This package contributes to the Commission’s priorities of A New Impetus for European Democracy and A Europe fit for the Digital Age.

Responsibility for judicial training is shared between Member States and is also supported by a number of stakeholders: training providers and national and European organisations of the judicial professions. European judicial training builds on the lessons learned since the adoption of the European Judicial Training Strategy 2011-2020 and reflects the results of the Commission’s evaluation of the 2011-2020 strategy and of a broad public consultation conducted by the Commission in 2018.

On 13 October 2020, the Council adopted conclusions encouraging member states to make use of digital tools throughout judicial proceedings. The Council invited the Commission to develop a comprehensive EU strategy on the digitisation of justice by the end of 2020.

Translated from UE : nouvelles mesures pour accélérer la numérisation des systèmes judiciaires et la formation des professionnels