The European justice ministers met informally in Logroño, Spain, on Friday 21 July, after an initial working session with the home affairs ministers (see EUROPE 13227/12, 13227/10), for a meeting devoted in particular to access to justice and the protection of victims, at a time when the Spanish Presidency says it wants to place “citizens at the heart of justice”.
Access to justice
During the morning, the ministers exchanged their respective best practices to ensure access to justice for vulnerable citizens, in particular people with disabilities. Among the issues discussed were the opportunities offered by digital technologies, the accessibility of infrastructures and free legal aid services.
They also discussed the need to clarify and modernise legal language. “We have shared formulas so that, without renouncing technical rigour, we can make it simpler and more understandable for people with disabilities”, explained Spain’s Minister of Justice, Pilar Llop.
The European Commissioner for Justice, Didier Reynders, stressed the importance of digitalising judicial systems (see EUROPE 13213/16), training legal professionals who interact with vulnerable people and adapting procedural rights.
Support for victims
The Member States then turned their attention to the protection and support for victims of crime in the EU.
It was an opportunity for Mr Reynders to present the proposed revision of the directive on victims’ rights, unveiled at the beginning of July (see EUROPE 13221/17). While he acknowledged “the budgetary challenge for the department of justice in all Member States to increase such an enforcement of the victims’ rights”, he called on ministers to adopt the revision swiftly, stressing the need to “ensure that the gaps are closed”.
As well as exchanging views on the legislation, they also discussed the way in which it is structured, “the sectoral standards that make it possible to provide a bulwark for the victims of (...) specific crimes (...) such as the victims of terrorism, child abuse or crimes of violence against women”, added Ms Llop.
Finally, the ministers discussed the specific situation of the victims of the war in Ukraine. Recalling the launch of the International Centre for the Prosecution of Crimes of Aggression against Ukraine at the beginning of July (see EUROPE 13214/10), Mr Reynders and Ms Llop advocated for the perpetrators of these crimes to be held to account. However, they added, this must be accompanied by real help for victims from the EU, for example by supporting the Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office and working to ensure that the Victims’ Coordination Centre provides specialist psychological support.
In the afternoon, the ministers discussed organised crime (see other news). (Original version in French by Hélène Seynaeve)