Trends and Successes in Improving Access to Justice Dr. Pim Albers Special advisor
Access to justice and the Council of Europe Relevant recommendations and resolutions: –Recommendation 81(7) on measures facilitating access to justice –Resolution 76(5) on legal aid in civil, commercial and administrative matters –Resolution 78(8) on legal aid and advice European Convention on Human Rights (especially article 6) Work of the CEPEJ (examples are: evaluation report judicial systems and CEPEJ study No. 9 on access to justice)
European Convention on Human Rights Article 6 – Right to a fair trial 1.In the determination of his civil rights and obligations or of any criminal charge against him, everyone is entitled to a fair and public hearing within a reasonable time by an independent and impartial tribunal established by law. Judgment shall be pronounced publicly but the press and public may be excluded from all or part of the trial in the interests of morals, public order or national security in a democratic society, where the interests of juveniles or the protection of the private life of the parties so require, or to the extent strictly necessary in the opinion of the court in special circumstances where publicity would prejudice the interests of justice. 2.Everyone charged with a criminal offence shall be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law. 3.Everyone charged with a criminal offence has the following minimum rights: –to be informed promptly, in a language which he understands and in detail, of the nature and cause of the accusation against him; –to have adequate time and facilities for the preparation of his defense; –to defend himself in person or through legal assistance of his own choosing or, if he has not sufficient means to pay for legal assistance, to be given it free when the interests of justice so require; –to examine or have examined witnesses against him and to obtain the attendance and examination of witnesses on his behalf under the same conditions as witnesses against him; –to have the free assistance of an interpreter if he cannot understand or speak the language used in court.
Main elements of Recommendation 81(7) Access to justice Information to the public Simplification of proceedings Legal representation/assistance (lawyers, court interpreters and experts) Promotion of short court proceedings Attention for the court fees, lawyers fees and recovery of costs’ Attention for small claims procedures (simple and efficient) and family law proceedings
2 CEPEJ reports: Access to justice in Europe (University of Nancy and Swiss Institute of Comparative Law) Report on European judicial systems 2008 Main focus of the presentation
Annual budget for legal aid per inhabitant (2006)
Legal aid budget in the Black Sea region
Number of legal aid cases per inhabitants and average amount of legal aid granted per case in 2006, in €
Court fees and court taxes
Special arrangements for vulnerable groups and victims by type of mechanism
Court locations per inhabitants
Level of implementation of computer equipment for the communication between the courts and their environment
Number of accredited mediators per inhabitants
Number of lawyers per inhabitants
Trends on access to justice Reduction of geographical court locations Increasing possibilities for small claims (civil) proceedings More ADR as an alternative for regular court proceedings Stimulation of court quality systems (which includes elements concerning access and affordability) Use of ICT for the communication between courts and its users (including citizens) is growing (court websites, electronic forms, etc) In certain European countries budget for legal aid is reduced