Promoting the Rule of Law and Judicial Independence

ended

Continue work on promoting the Rule of Law and judicial independence. 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 2025 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 Power. -To promote and preserve the Rule of Law. -To promote the independence and accountability of the judiciary: A multi-annual project on independence and accountability will continue. A methodology has been developed consisting of a framework for Independence and Accountability that has been translated into indicators and a scoring mechanism, this format facilitates dialogue with a view to improvement. The aim of the project is to identify strengths, and weaknesses in the judicial systems at the level of institutional safeguards and the effectiveness of the safeguards in practice. In 2025 Survey among judges of Europe on their independence will be carried out. -To promote the quality of the Judiciary: quality framework has been created and a questionnaire was carried out. Discussion will continue to deepen knowledge on particular quality aspects of the judiciary. -To promote a European Judicial Culture: -Thematic dialogue groups - 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 in-person seminars -To promote access to fair and impartial courts – 6 online lunch seminars held on the third Tuesday of the month. In 2025 a combination of in-person and online meetings will take place to achieve the goals