EU Justice Ministers reached agreement on Friday 9 October on the EU Council conclusions on the opportunities offered by digitisation in the area of access to justice systems.
It encourages Member States to make greater use of digital tools throughout judicial proceedings and calls on the Commission to develop a comprehensive EU strategy on the digitisation of Justice by the end of 2020 (see EUROPE 12525/21).
The last open question concerned Poland’s request to replace the term “gender equality” with “equality between men and women” in a paragraph warning of the risk that the use of artificial intelligence in the justice sector could reinforce existing discrimination and infringe fundamental rights (see EUROPE 12370/6). The obstacle was finally overcome by deleting the term “gender equality” from the text.
The amended text was endorsed on the same day by the Member States’ Ambassadors to the EU (Coreper). It will be formally adopted at the EU Council meeting next week.
“These conclusions are timely. They demonstrate the importance of ensuring that our justice systems are fit for the digital age”, said European Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders at a press conference. He also confirmed that the Commission will present a strategy on the digitisation of justice this year.
No agreement on conclusions on AI
The Ministers did not agree on the conclusions on the Charter of Fundamental Rights in the context of artificial intelligence (AI) and digital change (see EUROPE 12576/11). Poland also wanted the term “gender equality” to be removed from the text, but no compromise could be found on this subject.
According to a European source, there was no discussion of the text, just a presentation of the situation by the Presidency.
The German Presidency indicated that it would continue its bilateral contacts with delegations with a view to reaching agreement on this text. (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)