On Thursday 4 October, the European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice (CEPEJ) published its 2018 report based on 2016 figures collected from 45 of the 47 Council of Europe member countries. Lichtenstein and San Marino had not been able to provide the required figures.
The seventh report since the CEPEJ was set up in 2002 and as tightly-packed as usual, the report notes the problem of comparing qualitative and quantitative data from countries with differing historical, geographical, economic and judiciary backgrounds. It does, however, note some highly significant general trends.
In terms of budgets earmarked for the juridical system (courts, legal aid, non-penitentiary justice’s budget), there has been a slight increase with an average of €64.50 per inhabitant a year for 2016 from €58.10 in 2014, the highest among being spent in Switzerland (€215) and Luxembourg (€157) and the lowest in Ukraine and Azerbaijan (both €8).
The countries which, like Portugal and the Baltic States, experienced a fall in this budget following the 2008 economic and financial crisis are continuing to rise to their former levels.
Another trend: a greater contribution by users to the financing of the judicial system through taxes and charges for justice, which have risen in 25 Council of European countries.
Reforms of the judicial map are being carried to in three-quarters of the member countries, along with a reduction in the number of courts, an increase in their size of courts and greater use of the development of IT tools.
More female judges and public prosecutors is continuing to take place, notes the commission, noting an average of 53% of women and 47% of men in these professions, but a glass ceiling for lawyers and notaries. Only Germany seems to have constructed a broad policy in favour of equal numbers of men and women.
Requests for asylum have had a significant impact on the number of new cases in 2016 in nine countries: Germany, Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Italy, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.
The CEPEJ concludes that overall, court productivity is improving in Europe for both civil and criminal proceedings, although the duration of trials seems to be increasing at supreme court level.
The report can be found at: https://bit.ly/2zUc6Ee (Original version in French by Véronique Leblanc)