Trends and Successes in Improving Access to Justice

Dr. Pim AlbersSpecial 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) -2008

• Report on European judicial systems 2008

Main focus of the presentation

Annual budget for legal aid per inhabitant (2006)

56,2

55,0

46,9

32,4

21,1

16,5

15,0

10,5

6,8

6,7

6,3

6,2

5,0

4,8

4,1

3,8

3,7

3,4

2,1

1,9

1,5

1,5

0,9

0,9

0,6

0,6

0,5

0,5

0,5

0,4

0,4

0,3

0,2

0,2

0,04

0,04

0,04

0,03

0,02

0,01

0,01

0 € 10 € 20 € 30 € 40 € 50 € 60 €

UK-England and Wales

UK-Northern Ireland

UK-Scotland

Norway

Netherlands

Sweden

Ireland

Finland

Germany

Monaco

Switzerland

Luxembourg

Iceland

France

Belgium

Spain

Andorra

Portugal

Austria

Estonia

Czech Republic

Italy

Lithuania

Slovenia

Russian Federation

Poland

Denmark

Slovakia

Latvia

FYROMacedonia

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Romania

Bulgaria

Greece

Armenia

Malta

Moldova

Azerbaijan

Hungary

Georgia

Ukraine

Legal aid budget in the Black Sea region

Number of legal aid cases per 10.000 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

-3

7

17

27

37

47Victims of rape

Victims of terrorism

Children/Witnesses/Victims

Victims of domestic violence

Ethnic minorities

Disabled persons

Juvenile offenders

Other

Information mechanismHearing modalitiesProcedural rightsOther

Court locations per 100.000 inhabitants

Level of implementation of computer equipment for the communication between the courts and their environment

Number of accredited mediators per 100.000 inhabitants

42,324,0

17,115,1

12,09,5

8,66,15,7

5,34,8

3,72,82,7

2,02,0

0,90,6

0,2

0,0 5,0 10,0 15,0 20,0 25,0 30,0 35,0 40,0 45,0

AustriaNetherlands

BelgiumCroatia

HungaryLuxembourg

MaltaBulgariaSlovenia

MontenegroFYROMacedonia

UK-England and WalesSlovakia

SerbiaRomaniaPortugal

Bosnia and Herzegovina France

Lithuania

Number of lawyers per 100.000 inhabitants

342290288

266244

227192

168163159

147145

1151019895929190

848382827978777674

685857

49464644

373634323229

2422

96

0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400

GreeceItaly

LuxembourgSpain

PortugalCyprus

MaltaGermanyAndorraIceland

BulgariaBelgiumNorway

SwitzerlandHungaryRomania

NetherlandsSerbia

DenmarkAustria

FYROMacedoniaMonaco

Czech RepublicSlovakia

TurkeyMontenegro

FranceCroatiaPoland

GeorgiaSloveniaSwedenEstonia

LithuaniaRussian Federation

LatviaIrelandFinland

Bosnia and Herzegovina UK-Northern Ireland

MoldovaArmenia

UK-England and WalesUK-Scotland

Azerbaijan

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