At the ‘Justice’ Council in Luxembourg on Friday 11 October, EU ministers exchanged views on access to justice in the context of the rule of law and competitiveness.
As Hungary has made this notion its watchword for the six months of its Presidency of the Council of the EU, the discussions followed on from the informal ministerial meeting of 23 July (see EUROPE 13459/2) in Budapest, where ministers or their representatives discussed strengthening the competitiveness of the EU and its Member States through the prism of the law.
At the press conference following Friday’s debates, Hungary’s Minister of Justice, Bence Tuzson, explained the interconnection between access to justice – a fundamental element of the rule of law – and competitiveness within the European Union.
“Competitiveness is not just an economic issue, but also a legal one”, he said, referring to the need to create tools that would enable legal systems to strengthen this competitiveness.
Facilitating access to justice for SMEs. The case of SMEs, who were described by Mr Tuzson as the “backbone of the European economy”, aptly demonstrated how limited access to justice was an obstacle to competitiveness.
The Hungarian minister called for support for small and medium-sized enterprises since they are often at a disadvantage vis-à-vis large companies or public administrations as a result of their limited resources.
According to a preparatory document consulted by Agence Europe, SMEs face major obstacles in legal proceedings, particularly because of their dependence on large companies and the complexity of cross-border legal issues.
Mr Tuzson called for solutions to be found to reduce these obstacles, notably through the adoption of harmonised mechanisms to simplify access to justice.
The discussions highlighted the need to improve transparency, clarity and accessibility of legislation across the European Union.
Faced with the complexity of national laws, ministers encouraged the introduction of online tools, such as the EU’s e-Justice portal, which centralises legal information and makes it accessible to both citizens and businesses.
Legal innovation to assist competitiveness. In addition to SMEs, discussions focused on the integration of new technologies in the legal field. Ministers shared best practices in digitisation and artificial intelligence to improve the efficiency and accessibility of judicial systems.
According to the preparatory document, AI could play a decisive role in simplifying legal research and case management. This point was also made at the informal ministerial meeting held in July (see EUROPE 13459/3).
By facilitating access to these tools, SMEs are able to better navigate Europe’s complex legal systems.
Ministers also discussed alternative dispute resolution mechanisms, which offer faster and cheaper ways of resolving disputes.
The increasing use of these mechanisms has been hailed as a way of relieving congestion in the courts while facilitating SMEs' access to fair justice. Promoting these alternative methods is seen as crucial to improving the legal environment and, consequently, European competitiveness. (Original version in French by Nithya Paquiry)