On Monday 6 April, the European Ministers of Justice took stock by videoconference of the emergency measures introduced by the EU Member States in the field of justice in response to the COVID-19 pandemic (see EUROPE 12459/11).
In a communiqué issued at the end of the meeting, the Croatian Presidency of the Council stated that “the representatives of the Member States agreed that any extraordinary measures taken should be in line with the fundamental values of the Union”.
While it is tempting to see this as a link to the recent criticism of the emergency measures taken by the Hungarian Prime Minister to deal with the crisis (see EUROPE 12460/20), one source assured us that Hungary was in no way targeted.
There was no discussion on any Member State in particular, she said, and all participants stressed the need for temporary measures to comply with fundamental rights.
Justice in slow motion
According to another source, the Ministers only discussed the measures taken by the Member States to adapt to this situation and did not raise any specific problems or take any collective decisions.
Many Member States have taken steps to ensure a minimum service in the courts, dealing only with the most urgent cases. A number of them have also changed the modalities of communication between courts and prosecutors and adapted their procedures by, for example, suspending deadlines in court proceedings, especially for bankruptcy proceedings.
The discussion also focused on the situation in European prisons, where riots and escape attempts have increased in recent weeks, particularly in Italy, in response to restrictions on visitations or actions taken against the pandemic.
Belgium is among the countries that have recently tightened up their rules on visitations, but to compensate, it has decided to grant an additional €20 in calling credit to each prisoner so that they can maintain contact with their families.
In order to slow down the spread of the virus in prisons, several Member States have taken measures to relieve congestion in their prisons, including temporary or early release of certain categories of prisoners, amnesties and house arrest.
In France, for example, the number of inmates in prisons decreased by 6,266 between 16 March and 1 April, the justice ministry said.
A Crisis Group on the European Arrest Warrant
The European Commissioner for Justice, Didier Reynders, for his part, presented to the Ministers the Commission’s work to reduce the negative effects of the pandemic in the field of justice and proposed in particular the creation of a crisis management group on the European arrest warrant with the Member States, whose task would be to tackle the practical problems caused by the pandemic and travel restrictions in the implementation of this instrument.
“We are all facing the same challenges, and I am sure that the results of today’s debate will help us deal with this crisis and the consequences it has for the area of justice at European level as well as in the Member States”, said Dražen Bošnjaković, the Croatian Minister of Justice who initiated the meeting by videoconference. (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)