The General Assembly of the European Network of Councils for the Judiciary is being held in Rome on June 12-14, 2024, with the theme «Access to Justice».
The Assembly is a jubilee event, marking the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the European Network of Councils for the Judiciary in 2004 and is held in the historic building of the Palazzo Chancellery, built between 1489 and 1513 and is considered the earliest Renaissance palace in Rome.
The Representatives of the judicial councils from 36 member countries of the ENCJ and observers are participating in the Assembly. The Ukrainian High Council of Justice is represented by Hryhorii Usyk, the Chairman of the High Council of Justice and Inna Plakhtii – the member of the High Council of Justice.
The visit was supported by the EU Project "Pravo-Justice III".
As part of the theme of this year's Assembly, the opening speeches were delivered by:
– Maciej Szpunar, First Advocate General of the Court of Justice of the European Union – "The case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union on access to justice;
- Marie-Laure Basilien-Gensch, Professor of Law at Jean Moulin Lyon 3 University - " Migrants' access to justice: how vulnerability is taken into account";
- Ugo Pagallo, Professor of Philosophy of Law and Legal Informatics, Department of Law, University of Turin - "Artificial Intelligence and Access to Justice".
Later, the participants of the Assembly discussed the content of the draft Rome Declaration of the ENCJ in working groups.
After that, the plenary session presented the results of the ENCJ project "Independence, Accountability and Quality of the Judiciary" and the project on the attractiveness of a judicial career.
For reference
The European Network of Councils for the Judiciary (ENCJ) is a body that unites all judicial councils or similar bodies of EU member states and represents them in the EU. The mission of the ENCJ is to strengthen judicial independence in the European Union (without weakening accountability) in order to guarantee access to fair, independent and impartial courts. For this purpose, the ENCJ systematically promotes the development and develops standards and guidelines for judicial self-governance, as well as legal and practical aspects of performing essential functions, such as appointment of judges, promotion of judges and disciplinary action against judges. Despite the fact that the competencies and composition of the councils differ, it is important for the councils to ensure that they are able to fulfill their mission of guaranteeing the independence and accountability of judges and quality justice for all. This position is the epitome of the statements, declarations and reports issued by the ENCJ on judicial councils since its establishment in 2004 taking into account new standards and recommendations added over time.
The HCJ has been an observer in the ENCJ since June 2023.