EU Member States adopted their position (‘general approach’) on two texts of the ‘justice modernisation’ package at the meeting of Justice Ministers on 9 December. These texts are the regulation on digitalisation of judicial cooperation and access to justice, and the accompanying directive revising earlier texts on digitalisation of the judicial system (see EUROPE 12844/12).
The regulation provides for the creation of an electronic access point on the ‘e-justice’ portal where citizens, lawyers and competent authorities can exchange information in cross-border cases. The use of electronic signatures for documents, as well as of video-conferencing for certain cross-border hearings, is also made possible by the regulation.
See the general approach for the regulation: https://aeur.eu/f/4m9 ; and the directive: https://aeur.eu/f/4ma
European Judicial Cybercrime Network
The ministers also adopted their conclusions on the European Judicial Cybercrime Network (EJCN). They call for strengthening the capacity of the network through the establishment of a secretariat and the provision of additional human and financial resources to run it. This new structure could maintain and develop synergies with other networks, but also between EJSN and the EU Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation (Eurojust), according to the EU Council.
See the conclusions: https://aeur.eu/f/4m8
Electronic evidence
The Czech Presidency of the EU Council informed the Member States about the progress made on the electronic evidence package. It reached a provisional agreement with the European Parliament on 29 November (see EUROPE 13074/15), but some technical details are still to be finalised. “The devil is in the detail,” Czech Justice Minister Pavel Blažek said of the work.
“It will probably take a few weeks to finalise, but I hope we will take advantage of this momentum and close the file before the end of the year”, added EU Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders. (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)