SUMMARY REPORT OF THE MEETING HELD BY THE EUROPEAN
ASSOCIATION OF JUDGES - REGIONAL GROUP OF THE IAJ
Lausanne (Switzerland) - 3-4 May 2002
SESSION OF 3 MAY
The meeting was chaired by Mr Ernst
Markel, First Vice President of the IAJ, President of the European Association
of Judges–Regional Group of the IAJ. In attendance were the President of the
IAJ, Mr Tarek Bennour, the Honorary Presidents Mrs. Pâquerette Girard, Mr Ramon
Rodriguez Arribas and Mr Günter Woratsch, the Vice Presidents Mr Sidnei Beneti,
Mr Louis Denecker and Mrs. Maja Tratnik, the Secretary General, Mr Antonio
Mura, the Deputy Secretary General Mr Giacomo Oberto, as well as the following
delegates, representing their respective associations, which are members of the
International Association of Judges and of the European Association of Judges:
Austria Mr Reissner
Belgium Mrs. Drèze
Croatia Mr Gredeli and Mr Sessa
Denmark Mr Linde and Mr Schiøler
Estonia Mr Kiviloo
Finland Mr Katajamäki
France Mr Kriegk
F.Y.R.O.M. Mrs. Tsa-Tsa Nikolovska
Georgia Mr Mumladze
Germany Mr Mackenroth and Mrs. Peters
Iceland Mr Jonsson
Ireland Mr Murphy
Israel Mr
Lindenstrauss (observer)
Italy Mr Zuccarelli
Latvia Mr Bickovics
Liechtenstein Mr Hagen
Lithuania Mr Valancius
Luxembourg Mr Santer
Moldova Mr Ulianovschi
Norway Mrs. Myhr and Mr Kristensen
Netherlands Mr Vrieze
Poland Mr Bociaga and Mr Koczanski
Portugal Mr Cura Mariano and Mr Vaz Ventura
Russia (observer) Mr Serkov and Mr Popov
Slovakia Mr Majchrak
Slovenia Mr Zalar
Spain Mrs. Atienza
United Kingdom Mr Mac Naught
Sweden Mr Kjellsson
Switzerland Mr Gass, Mr Rusca and Mr Zappelli
1.
Approval
of the minutes of the EAJ meeting in Madrid, 23 September 2001.
After the welcome address of the
President of the Supreme Court of Switzerland, Mr Hans Peter Walter, the
President of the EAJ, Mr Markel, opened the meeting at 1.00 p.m. by thanking
the Swiss colleagues of the "Association Suisse des Magistrats de l’Ordre
Judiciaire" for the perfect organisation of the meeting and their
hospitality. He thanked also the IAJ President, Mr Tarek Bennour, as well as
the Honorary Presidents, Mrs. Girard, Mr Rodriguez Arribas (also in his
capacity as Executive President of the "Justice in the World" Foundation)
and Mr Woratsch, the Vice Presidents Mr Beneti (as well in his capacity as
President of the Ibero-American Group), Mr Denecker, Mrs. Tratnik and the
Secretary General Mr Mura for attending the meeting.
The minutes of the last EAJ meeting
in Madrid were unanimously approved.
The President then pointed out that
the meeting would mainly focus on the problems dealt with in points 3 and 5 of
the agenda.
2. Report on the activity of
2.1. International Association
of Judges (Pres. Tarek Bennour)
The IAJ President thanked first of all the President of
the EAJ as well as the Swiss Association and Mr Zappelli for the invitation to
the meeting. After the meeting in Madrid Mr Bennour held continuously contacts
to the Secretariat General in view of the preparation of the meetings of the
regional groups as well as of the next IAJ meeting in Abidjan. He thanked as
well the EAJ for the information received about the proposal on the future
structure of IAJ’s regional groups. In November 2001 Mr Bennour was invited by
the Moldovan Judges’ Association to Chisinau, where he met local colleagues who
informed him of the very hard working conditions of Moldovan judges. The
situation is very difficult there, especially as far as infra-structures,
material means and salaries of judges are concerned.
President Bennour received also a letter which had been
originally sent to Mr Markel concerning the situation in Burundi. This letter
was forwarded to Mr Sy, who is going to refer on this matter during the next
meeting of the Presidency Committee in Rome. Following an invitation by the
association of young Arab lawyers, Mr Bennour was given the chance of attending
in the Netherlands the proceedings on the Lockerbie affair.
As to the "Justice in the World" Foundation, Mr
Bennour evoked the conference on the subject "Justice and
Globalisation", which had been initially foreseen for October 2001 and had
been subsequently postponed to January 2002. Unfortunately only 16 applications
had been sent within the deadline, whereas at least 25-30 applications were
necessary in order to be able to organise the meeting. Mr Bennour expressed the
hope to be able to organise that meeting for the next autumn.
Mr Bennour recalled then the case of the Nigerian woman
who had been condemned to death penalty for adultery. He had received a request
for an IAJ’s intervention on this matter, but he had decided to take no kind of
steps, as this case concerned an individual and the independence of the
judiciary did not appear to be at stake.
As far as the Ibero American Group is concerned,
President Bennour had been invited to visit three south American countries:
Paraguay, Bolivia and Peru. In that part of the continent the situation of the
judiciary is very difficult especially due to the fact that judges do not enjoy
life tenure, being obliged to be periodically reappointed after a certain
number of years in office (2, 3 or 5 years). During these visits Mr Bennour and
Mr Beneti could convince local authorities in Paraguay to amend current legislation,
in order to reduce the numbers of judges’ reappointment to only one time.
Unfortunately the IAJ commission could not make itself heeded by authorities in
Peru, where the situation of the judiciary is still very difficult.
President Bennour was also invited by the Italian
Association of Judges and Prosecutors to take part in the congress which was
held in Salerno, where he pronounced a speech on behalf of the IAJ. He attended
also the meeting of the African Group in Marrakech during the month of April.
For health reasons Mr Bennour could not travel to Paraguay for the meeting of
the Ibero-American Group. For this same reason he could not attend the meeting
in Alicante held by the Foundation. President Bennour will attend next week the
meeting of the Balkan Association of Jurists.
The chairman thanked IAJ President Mr. Bennour for his
informative report.
2.2. European Association of
Judges (chairman of the European Group)
The President referred to the written report which had
been delivered by the month of April, saying he would summarise only the main
events stated in that report, concerning his activities after the meeting in
Madrid. He added then that the revised version of the Resolution upon
corruption approved in Madrid was available and that it was delivered in
Lausanne to the European delegates. This document is also available in the
Internet at the following web site: http://www.iaj-uim.org/ENG/16.html
After the EU accession monitoring programme of the
"Open Society Institute" had focused on judicial independence and
justice status in accession countries, a second report is going to be
established about judicial capacity in order to examine the degree to which the
quality of judges and supporting institutions guarantee competent and efficient
adjudication in EU accession countries. EAJ President will take part as well in
these works. The first report found considerable interest in Brussels. The
President then added, as far as point 1 of his written report was concerned,
that in the following week a Balkan Association of Jurists was to be founded.
On this matter Mrs. Tratnik would report later on. On point 3 of the
President’s written report Mr Markel added that he held talks with the President
of the Bulgarian Association of Judges.
It is likely that in the next
future that association submits its application for membership in the IAJ, as the judges of that country seemed to be dissatisfied with the respective
activity of MEDEL organisation to which that association belongs. EAJ
had also expressed an opinion on a
draft for a code of judicial ethics drawn up by the Bulgarian Judges
Association. The author of this opinion
was the Swiss colleague Stephan Gass, President of the First Study Commission of IAJ.
The President informed the assembly that former IAJ Vice
President Mr Broekhoven had assured him that he would grant EAJ the possibility
to examine the reports concerning the 10 EU accession countries.
Coming to point 4 of the written report, Mr Markel
pointed out that, in the occasion of the inauguration ceremony of the new
premises of the Institute of the "Justice in the World" Foundation,
the International Institute of the Foundation had decided that the next
research should deal with the following theme: "Reasons of and Remedies
against Judicial Delays". In his written report the President had asked
all national associations to forward names of possible general rapporteurs to
resume national reports. He invited the delegates to submit such names in
written during the meeting in Lausanne. The research group will be coordinated
by Mr Beneti and will start through a questionnaire a research on judicial
organisation, number of judges and training institutes among IAJ member
associations. The aim of this work is that of setting up a data base which will
be published in the web site of the Foundation.
The President recalled that the Foundation organised in
Madrid for the EAJ during the month of April a seminar on European cooperation
in criminal cases. This conference had been a success, although the information
on this event had come late. Delegates from 23 EAJ countries attended the meeting and expressed their
satisfaction with this initiative. Mr Markel underlined that in such meetings
participants are not chosen by Ministries of Justice, but by the respective
associations, which use to send skilled and competent people.
As there were no other remarks, the assembly approved the
written report of the President, who gave then the floor to the Executive
President of the Foundation.
2.3. "Justice in the
World" Foundation (Executive Pres. Ramon Rodriguez Arribas, Hon. Pres.
Günter Woratsch)
Honorary
President Rodriguez Arribas took the floor giving a report on the activities of
the Foundation since the last meeting in Madrid. As far as the Publishing
service of the Foundation is concerned, the last issue of the Journal had been published and
delivered to the delegates during the Lausanne meeting. This issue is entirely
focused on the works of the meeting in Madrid. The Foundation’s web page has
meantime received more than 10,000 visits. Director of the Publishing Service,
Mr Reis Figueira, has already started preparing issue n. 10 as well as the
publication on the Foundation’s web site of issue n. 9. Mr Reis Figueira has
also started contacts with a Portuguese foundation in order to enhance publishing activities of the
Foundation. He is also holding contacts with the Luso-American Foundation in
order to achieve the delivering of the review of the Foundation to the US
courts and universities.
Coming
to the International Institute, Mr Rodriguez Arribas evoked the last meeting of
the Academical Council, which was held in Alicante at the occasion of the
inauguration of the new premises which had been put at the Foundation’s
disposal by the University and by the Municipality of Alicante. That meeting
had been presided over by IAJ Vice President Mrs. Louise Mailhot. During this
event some decisions were taken in the field of judicial training. First of all
a new coordinator for the judicial training activities was appointed in the
person of Mr Ruben Jimenez Fernandez,
former Spanish delegate and future delegate to the Abidjan meeting. In the
future annual training courses for judges will be organised on regional basis,
through a narrow cooperation between the Foundation and the different regional
groups of the IAJ. In such work Mr Jimenez Fernandez will be helped by the
sub-director for the judicial training Mr Kriegk. Papers submitted to such
conferences will be published by the Foundation.
Mr
Rodriguez Arribas invited the delegates to contact Mr Reis Figueira in order to
inform him about possible contacts with international or national institutes
which could cooperate with the Foundation in order to publish the second volume
of the treaty of comparative law.
In the field of legal research the
Foundation is currently working on three projects. The first one deals with a
questionnaire prepared by Mr Beneti and Mr Kriegk which will be delivered to
all IAJ member associations. A final document will be drafted and sent to all
national associations. The theme of this research will be: "Reasons of and
Remedies against Judicial Delays". This work will go through some steps,
consisting of gathering materials on the Internet and consulting previous works
on this theme done by the IAJ study commissions; secondly a questionnaire will
be spread through national associations. Subsequently rapporteurs will be
appointed in order to summarize the results of these questionnaires as well in
order to study the European Court of Human Rights’ case law in the field of
judicial delays. Another field of investigation will be that of international
terrorism. The Institute decided to prepare a publication containing an
inventory of relevant current national and international legislations on this
theme. The publishing of this work will be financed by a Spanish local
autonomous community.
Mr
Rodriguez Arribas referred then to the meeting held in April and organised by
the Foundation. During the month of June in Alicante a training course will
take place for the Ibero American Group. Later on two other seminars will take
place: one possibly in Canary Islands in September for the African Group and
another one in Alicante for the A.N.A.O. Group.
As far as the "Justice in the
World" Award is concerned, the jury had decided in December 2001 to award
the prize to Mrs. Louise Arbour. The ceremony for the delivering of this prize
will be held in Madrid on 27 June; probably it will be presided over by EU
Commissioner for Justice Mr Antonio Vitorino. Finally the Executive President
of the Foundation added that the possibility exists of setting up a continental
seat of the Foundation for Latin America in Sao Paulo.
The President thanked Mr. Rodriguez
Arribas for his very interesting information.
3. Situation of member
associations to EAJ
3.1. Working Group
particularly for problems of Central and Eastern Europe (IAJ Vice-Pres. Maja
TRATNIK)
The President recalled first of all
the decision taken in Madrid to set up a permanent working group, composed of 8
associations. This group had studied, for the time being, the problems of
Croatia, Czech Republic and Moldova. All the reports concerning these three
countries had been previously delivered to the member
associations. Vice President Mrs. Tratnik took then the floor in order to
illustrate her written report on those countries as well as on the issue of the
Balkan association of jurists. She stressed that the work within the group was
mainly based on the reports prepared by the concerned associations; it was
subsequently developed through e-mail exchanges. Mrs. Tratnik and Mr Woratsch
had also personally visited Croatia on 20 and 21 March 2002, in order to
prepare their report, submitted to the assembly. During the visit the EAJ
commission had held as well a press conference with the attendance of
journalists and television.
The delegate of Croatia took then
the floor illustrating an additional written report in which he stressed the
difficulties of the local judiciary in its relations to the executive power and
particularly to the Minister of Justice. He expressed his deepest thanks to the
EAJ and to the special commission which had visited Croatia for their much
needed support.
As far as the Czech Republic is
concerned the President informed the assembly that he could not reach our
colleagues and that no representative of that country could attend the meeting
in Lausanne.
As far as the Balkan Federation of
Jurists was concerned Mrs Tratnik illustrated her written information dated
April 2002 and delivered to all member associations. She added that IAJ
President will attend the meeting in Patras the following week.
A large and lively debate took then
place among delegates. At the end the assembly unanimously approved the report
drafted by the permanent working group on the situation in Croatia, Czech
Republic and Moldova as well as the report on the mission to Croatia. The
permanent working group is in charge of the enforcement of the resolutions of
the reports. The subsequent documents will be signed by the President of the
working group as well as by the President of the EAJ.
3.2. Italy
(Associazione Nazionale Magistrati)
The Italian delegate, Mr Zuccarelli,
took the floor to illustrate the written document delivered to all the
delegates. He also expressed the thanks of the Italian association to the EAJ
for the interest that our organisation had shown towards the problem of the
independence of the judiciary in Italy. Mr Zuccarelli’s document is published
in the EAJ web site at the following address: http://space.tin.it/edicola/goberto/zuccarelli.htm
At the end of his presentation Mr Zuccarelli said the Italian association did
not request, at least for the moment, the intervention of the EAJ. The
President thanked the Italian delegate for this informative report.
Mr
Zuccarelli informed the assembly that the Italian Association is ready to organise the EAJ spring
meeting in 2004, probably in the town of Naples.
3.3. General
The delegate of Israel, Mr
Lindenstrauss, informed the assembly about an initiative of the Israeli bar
association, consisting in the spreading through its members of a questionnaire
for the assessment of the behaviour of judges. The responses were filled in
anonymously by lawyers. This initiative had led to a sort of anonymous
"evaluation" of local judges, widely published by the local press;
some judges had even been "classified" as the "worst
judges" in Israel. After a large debate on this issue the assembly decided
to set up a working group chaired by Mr Woratsch and composed by Mr Kriegk, Mr
Lindenstrauss, Mr Mackenroth, Mr Mac Naught and Mr Vrieze. This group drafted
an opinion, which was subsequently unanimously approved by the assembly and
that will be forwarded by EAJ’s President to the European Bar Association. The opinion is delivered as an enclosure
to this summary report.
The
session was closed at 5 p.m.
SESSION OF 4 MAY
The session was opened by the
President at 9 a.m. It was attended by the same delegates who had attended the
session of May 3.
4. Co-operation with European
Organisations
On this topic the Secretary General Mr Mura informed the
assembly of a letter from the OCSE offices in Warsaw concerning an invitation
for a meeting to be held in Poland on judicial organisation and on the
protection of human rights. Unfortunately this information had arrived too
late. No information had been provided yet on this initiative by the Polish
association, requested by Mr Mura to attend the meeting, if possible.
4.1. Council of Europe
The President recalled on this issue point n. 7 of his written
report, saying that he had nothing to add about this subject.
4.2. Consultative Council of
European Judges
President Markel recalled that the Council of European
Judges had recommended to the Committee of Ministers to admit EAJ as an
observer to the works of the Council. Mr Markel informed the assembly that he
had sent a message for thanking the CCEJ’s President, Lord Justice Mance, who
had expressed his interest in the cooperation with our association. The topic
to be dealt with this year is that of judicial conduct and for 2004 that of
judicial training. Mr Markel invited the delegates who are members of the
Council to coordinate their responses to the questionnaire which has been
prepared by the presidency of the Consultative Council. The President proposed
to set up a working group charged to prepare the EAJ’s answer to the
questionnaire and to coordinate the answers of the members of the CCEJ who are
at the same time representatives of their associations in the EAJ.
Mr Reissner recalled that the next meeting of the working
party will take place in June and that the deadline for the responses to the
questionnaire had already expired. The assembly decided to form a working group
charged of preparing the EAJ’s answer to the questionnaire. This group is
composed of Mr Hagen, Mr Sessa, Mr Valancius, Mr Zalar; it will work under the
co-ordination of Mr Reissner. The group will submit its conclusions to
President Markel before forwarding them to the CCEJ.
4.3. Academy of European Law
The President referred on this issue to point n. 9 of his
written report, saying that he had nothing to add about this subject.
4.4. European Union
(Initiative of German Association “Ways to Brussels”)
Honorary President Woratsch took the
floor in order to illustrate the documents delivered by him, concerning his
participation in the meeting held in Brussels on the subject of mutual
recognition of judicial decisions in criminal matters. He expressed the opinion
that this time the meeting had shown the determination of EU authorities to
march towards the setting up of a true European common legal space. Mr Woratsch
recalled then the advice expressed upon the green paper on criminal-law
protection of the financial interests of the Community and the establishment of
a European Prosecutor. In order to draw this opinion Mr Woratsch had asked for
the cooperation of member associations. Three papers, containing some remarks,
had been sent by Mr Kriegk, by Mrs. Tratnik and by the German Association. In
his report Mr Woratsch had stressed the conclusions drawn by the EAJ on the
necessity of safeguarding the independence of the judiciary, the independence
of the European Prosecutor and on the appointment of the members of this
office. He also pointed out that it was necessary for us not to stress the
political aspects of this issue. Mr Woratsch added he thought it was very
important to let our opinion known in Brussels on this matter. Mr Denecker
remarked that there is a difference between the French text, which employs the
word "procureur" and the Dutch text which has the word "officer
of justice".
Further information on this topic
available in the Internet at the following address: http://europa.eu.int/comm/dgs/justice_home/index_en.htm
The assembly unanimously approved the opinion drafted by Honorary President on the "green paper" as the official opinion of the EAJ to be submitted to the EU offices. President Markel expressed EAJ’s thanks to Mr Woratsch and to the group coordinated by him for the work accomplished. Mr Woratsch thanked especially Mr Kriegk for the help given in the activity of the working group.
Vice President Mr Denecker took then
the floor in order to inform the assembly of the initiatives in which he had
taken part in Brussels. The first meeting in which Mr Denecker took part was
held on 27 June 2001 on the matter of parental responsibility. In this field EU is working at a new regulation on
jurisdictional competence, mutual recognition and enforcement of decisions
concerning parental responsibility. A second meeting took place in Brussels on
24 October 2001 on the project of The Hague conference on the jurisdictional
competence in civil and commercial matters. In this field a report has been drawn
on the fight against the faking of trademarks and goods. The third conference
dealt with the subject of money laundering. This topic is strictly connected to
that of the European Public Prosecutor, who will be able to enquire in this
field, as well as in that of tax frauds. The proposed legislation provides also
for a modification of the rules on the burden of the proof, which could be set
on the defendant, instead than on the prosecution office. All the materials
concerning these three meetings can be put by Mr Denecker at the disposal of
the delegates who want to have more information on the subject.
President Markel expressed EAJ’s
thanks to Mr Denecker for the information as well as for the activity done
before the EU offices.
The President of
the German Association of Judges, Mr Mackenroth, took then the floor in order
to illustrate the German initiative called “Ways to Brussels”. On this subject
a meeting was held in Berlin on 23 February 2003. Object of the meeting was a kind of common
brainstorming, concerning the issue of whether and how national judges
associations of the EU member states can be informed about legal initiatives of
the European Union (EU) and accompany their implementation into national law.
On occasion of this meeting, the German Judges’
Association pointed out that no secret matters were to be discussed and
that the object was not so much to reach binding results, but to conduct a
general stock-taking and to develop common ideas for a solution of this
problem, paying respect to the experience other European associations had
gained so far.
Invited to the meeting were participants from Denmark,
Sweden, the Netherlands and from Austria. The EAJ had been represented by
President Markel and Honorary President Mr. Woratsch. All participants agreed
in explaining that their particular national associations did not have any
direct contact to EU-institutions (European Council, Commission, Parliament) so
far, but only indirect contact via the national governments. Mr Mackenroth
pointed out that the Berlin meeting was on no account aimed at competing with
the EAJ. On the contrary, it was summoned in order to include colleagues from
other countries and not to march off alone.
Participants in the meeting remarked that in the
future judge associations are to make their own contribution to the following
four areas on the European level: status and organisational questions of the
Judiciary, "daily-work" issues (for example rules of judicial
procedure), working conditions, income. Efforts of the German initiative are
aimed at gaining continuous firsthand information about all questions from
European Commission, Council and Parliament concerning Justice and
Domestics, identifying "key
persons" in the area of European Justice and Domestics, and also on the
national level, mapping out strategies on the national level.
According to Mr Mackenroth, information on the
European level can be acquired and distributed as following: 1) It is necessary
to filter the flood of information on the European level. 2) For this purpose,
structural knowledge is required: every association ought to name well-known
"contact persons" for Brussels. 3) The retrieved information has to
be distributed by way of a network (for example mailing lists). 4) The judge
association of that country which is to take over EU-presidency ought to
contribute to a greater extent, sounding out and giving prompt information
about possible relevant legal projects for the presidency on the national
level. 5) Official working language can only be English. 6) On the medium or
long term, a person on the spot should accomplish official representation of
the associations represented in the EAJ. He or she should have the
qualification for becoming a judge, experience with European law and EU
institutions and knowledge of English and at least one more language. 7)
Already now, there are possibilities for better co-operation: On occasion of
the meeting, the German Judge Association offered to pass on information
arriving regularly from the representations of Baden-Württemberg and the German
Lawyers association, subject to consent of the informants. The offer was
accepted gladly.
President Markel expressed EAJ’s
thanks to Mr Mackenroth for this initiative.
During the discussion which followed
this intervention some delegates expressed some reserves on the possibility
that this initiative be seen as an initiative of the German association and not
of the EAJ. The President pointed out that it is also in the interest of the
German association that this initiative will be considered as an instrument of the
EAJ. Honorary President Mrs. Girard proposed her name for the co-ordination of
a group composed by one delegate from each national association, charged of
assuring the relationships with the EU. Mr.
Markel promised to pay particular attention to this issue in the future as
well.
5. Future Structure of the IAJ
Regional Groups (Statutes for the European Association of Judges,
Mr. Jes Schiøler, chairman of
the working party)
Opening the debate on this issue the President recalled
the current rules concerning the amendments to the IAJ statutes, observing that
27 August 2002 was the last day for the submission of a proposal aiming at a
modification of the statutes. Mr Markel pointed out as well that the European
initiative met certain reservations by
the other regional groups of the IAJ.
Mr Schiøler took then the floor illustrating the draft
statute worked out by the working group chaired by him. He introduced his
report by saying that the main concern
had been to preserve the unity and the
capacity to act of IAJ; at the same time the project is aimed to put at the
regional groups’ disposal a certain number of tools, above all in order to
facilitate their work. The draft prepared by the working group could be also considered
by other regional groups as a model for them. Then Mr Schiøler passed to
examination in detail of the main articles of the draft, giving the reasons
which lay behind any of the proposed provisions.
A very wide and lively discussion
took subsequently place especially on the subject of the election of the
Presidents of the Regional Groups and of a setting up of a Secretariat General for the
Group. During this discussion the Secretary General Mr Mura took the floor in
order to illustrate the possible consequences of the constitution of an
autonomous Secretariat General of the EAJ. Vice President Beneti and Honorary
President Rodriguez Arribas as well expressed some reserves upon the
opportunity of having a Secretariat General for the Group which could be
independent of the IAJ’s Secretariat General. Mr. Markel emphasised the importance of the General Secretariat and
particularly of the Deputy Secretary General Mr. Oberto for the activity of EAJ
and suggested to include in Article 4 of the draft Statutes that the General
Secretary of a Regional Group is acting in close co-operation with the General
Secretariat of IAJ. Another
topic widely debated was that of the budget, as some delegates remarked that
this issue was closely linked to that of the Secretariat.
The Dutch association of judges proposed to add in
article 2 paragraph 2 of the final draft of the Statutes of the European
Association of Judges the following lines: a) at the end of the first sentence:
"and international and supranational judiciaries, not exceeding the
European level"; b) at the end of the paragraph sub g): "where
they are at stake in projects and decisions of international and transnational
governmental organisations, not exceeding the European level".
At the end of the discussion the assembly approved (with
one vote against) the proposal of the President to consider the draft with the Dutch amendment as approved, save the part concerning
the election of the Presidents of the
Regional Groups as well as the setting up of a Secretariat General for
the Group. These subjects will be dealt with during the meeting in Abidjan.
The Belgian delegation will prepare a French translation
of the draft statute.
President Markel expressed his
thanks to Mr Schiøler and to the working group for the remarkable work done.
6. Report on Remuneration and
Expert Data Base (final versions)
The assembly unanimously approved the final version of
the report concerning judicial remuneration. Mrs. Girard proposed to contact
again national associations in order to obtain more detailed information on the
questionnaire she had sent on the subject of expert data base.
7. Budget Information
See
enclosure No 2.
8. Miscellaneous
The EAJ was informed by the President of the Ibero-American Group, Mr Beneti, of the current problems concerning the independence of the judiciary power in Argentina. The EAJ showed its support to the efforts made by the Argentinean Association of Judges and by the Ibero-American Group in order to protect the principle of independence of the judiciary of that country. Mr. Beneti also expressed his satisfaction about the debate on the drafts for Statutes of IAJ Regional Groups in particular about the attention paid to necessities and concerns of all these groups.
The Secretary General Mr Mura
invited all the associations which have not yet sent their e-mail address to
the Secretariat General to do so as soon as possible. The Secretariat General
has contacted the expert who has created the new website for the IAJ, charging
him to prepare an estimate of the expenses for the setting up of a professional
web site also for the EAJ. Meantime a link has been inserted in the IAJ’s web
site to the web page of the EAJ (http://space.tin.it/edicola/goberto/),
created and is maintained by Deputy Secretary General Mr Oberto. The expense
which has been foreseen would be of less than € 3,000. Secretary General Mura
invited the assembly to reflect upon this proposal and to take a decision
during the meeting in Abidjan.
The session was closed at 5 p.m. by the President with special thanks to the
hosting Swiss association and Mr. Oberto for his dedication to the activities
of EAJ.
Enclosures:
1. Opinion on
the Questionnaire on the Behaviour and
Performance of Judges
2.
Information
on the budget 2001-2002 and expenses from 14 September 2001 to 26 April 2002
Opinion on the
Questionnaire on the Behaviour
and Performance of Judges
The Judiciary accepts
and has always accepted that the behaviour and performance of judges are
matters of legitimate public interests upon which everyone has the right to
comment. Judges work in public and for the public and their duty is
to deal fairly and efficiently with all matters which come before them.
However,
the action of
certain Bar-associations who invite the members to
answer anonymously the
Feedback-Questionnaire which
aims to identify individual judges and rank them in a league table as good, bad
and worst judges must be regretted.
The
EAJ supports the Israel
Association of Judges in deploring the action
chosen by the Israeli
Bar-association. The result of such a survey are likely to be publicized by the media and the overall consequences
will be embarrassment to
the individual judge, threat to his independence and attempt by litigants to choose or avoid a particular
judge and undermining the public confidence in the judiciary.
The EAJ welcomes on behalf of its members
all constructive criticism and supports schemes which help judges to do their
work in a way which best serves
the high quality
of the independent judiciary and
avoid undue influences on the judiciary. Every professional assessment is
helpful.
|
|
budget per EAJ Losanna 020426
EUROPEAN ASSOCIATION
OF JUDGES
Regional Group of the
I.A.J.
BUDGET
2001-2002
and
EXPENSES
FROM 14 SEPTEMBER 2001 TO 26 APRIL 2002
(in EURO)
|
|
|
|
total |
|
A) Availability on 14 September 2001 (arrears) |
+ 11,094.93 |
|
|
|
B) Contribution from the IAJ for the year 2002 |
+ 2,582.28 |
|
|
|
C) Total availability for the year 2002 [A+B] |
|
|
+ 13,677.21 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
D) Reimbursement
of the expenses to Pres. Markel for his mission to Portugal |
- 450.99 |
|
|
|
E) Total expenses
[D] |
|
|
- 450.99 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
F) Availability on 26 April 2002 [C-E] |
|
|
+ 13,226.22 |