Promoting the Rule of Law and Judicial Independence

ended

Main objectives are: 1. To protect and promote the Rule of Law by providing support for the independence, accountability and quality of judiciaries in Europe and promoting understanding of and respect for judicial independence 2.To strengthen mutual trust among the judiciaries of Europe 3.To promote effective access to justice in a digital age The main activities in 2022 will be: -To strengthen the position of the judiciary in a democratic state:-speak up for Councils for the Judiciary and make the point that the judiciary is the third State Powers To promote and preserve the Rule of Law -To promote the independence and accountability of the judiciary : Continuation of the multi-annual project on independence and accountability. Within the project a methodology has been developed consisting of a framework for Independence and Accountability that has been translated into indicators and a scoring mechanism, a format to facilitate dialogue with a view to improvement. The aim of the project is to identify strengths, and weaknesses in the judicial systems both at the level of institutional safeguards and the effectiveness of the safeguards in practice. Amongst the activities a survey among the judges of Europe will be organises to take stock of their perception of their own independence and of their colleagues. -To promote the quality of the Judiciary: Continuation of the multi annual to define and evaluate standards for the quality of the judiciary -To promote a European Judicial Culture: Thematic dialogue groups -To provide the judicial perspective - To share information on the organisation of national justice systems -To Promote Access to Justice in a Digital Age, the ENCJ Digital Justice Forum organises online and face to face seminars -To promote access to fair and impartial courts- online lunch seminars every third Tuesday of the Month In 2022 the ENCJ will use a combination of online and face to face meetings.