On Thursday 6 June in Luxembourg, the European Ministers of Justice will hold a political orientation debate on the proposal for a Regulation digitising cooperation between the courts of the Member States in the taking of evidence in civil or commercial matters and that on the service of judicial documents by electronic means (see EUROPE 12031/12).
In a note, dated 24 May, the Romanian Presidency of the Council of the EU explains that, while there seems to be a broad consensus among Member States on the need to modernise judicial cooperation, the broader question of whether access to justice should be fully digitised (see EUROPE 12235/4) is still controversial and a ministerial debate is needed to make progress at technical level.
The major change made by the Commission in these two proposals is to make the electronic cross-border exchange of evidence and the electronic service of judicial documents by a "decentralised computer system composed of national computer systems interconnected by a secure and reliable communication infrastructure" mandatory.
The main question that ministers will have to decide is whether the introduction and use of such a computer system should be mandatory or optional.
Some countries support maintaining the mandatory use of the system, provided that they have a longer transition period for its introduction and exemptions - which have yet to be identified - to allow, in some cases, traditional paper-based notification of documents or evidence.
Other Member States prefer optional use, which would allow them to develop, at their own pace, the digitisation of their judicial system. However, the note points out that the added value of revising the two regulations would then be weakened.
Certain delegations have advanced the idea that the use of a mandatory IT system could be justified for the Service of Documents, and not necessarily for the Taking of Evidence. "However, such a differentiated approach has not yet been analysed with regard to its justification and implications for the other aspects of the two revision proposals", the note states.
Ministers will also be invited to choose between using an existing IT solution or implementing a new one.
The Commission's proposals do not explicitly mention a specific software solution. Nevertheless, in its impact assessment, the institution considers that the e-Codex system is the most appropriate. The European Parliament, which adopted its position at first reading on both texts last February (see EUROPE 12193/5, 12193/6), supported the e-Codex system.
Reflections also revolve around the question of whether a centralised or decentralised computer system is needed. Here, the note indicates that the majority of delegations were in favour of a decentralised system that would respect existing national computer systems. Some Member States advocate a centralised system, with the main argument that the costs of implementation would then be borne by the EU budget and not by national budgets.
Implementation costs remain a major concern for Member States. According to the Commission's impact assessment, the costs for the deployment of e-Codex at national level would amount to €15,000, while the development of a national central system would cost between €20,000 and €50,000. However, according to estimates made by some Member States, these costs could be significantly higher.
A European source said on Tuesday 28 May that European justice ministers should move towards mandatory use, but with a longer transition period and a thorough cost analysis beforehand. (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)