Context: Developments in justice reforms in 2019
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2. Context Developments in justice reforms in 2019 5
2. Context
Developments in justice reforms in 2019
In 2019, a large number of Member States continued their efforts to further improve the effectiveness of their justice systems.
Figure 1 presents an updated overview of adopted and planned measures across the different functional areas of justice systems
in Member States engaged in reform activities.
source: European Commission (36)
In 2019, procedural law continued to be an area of particular focus in a large number of Member States with a significant amount
of ongoing or planned legislative activity. Reforms concerning the status of judges, the rules for legal professionals and prosecutors
also saw elevated activity. Compared with the last edition of the EU Justice Scoreboard, the adoption of measures in areas such as
the administration of courts and councils of the judiciary gathered further momentum as Member States followed up on earlier an-
nouncements. Activity in other areas, such as information and communication technology (ICT) development in the justice system or
re-designing judicial maps, slowed down. Some Member States are already actively using or at least planning to make use of artificial
intelligence in their justice systems. Once more, the overview confirms the observation that justice reforms require their time – some-
times spanning several years – from their announcement until the adoption of the legislative and regulatory measures and their actual
implementation on the ground.
36 The information has been collected in cooperation with the group of contact persons on national justice systems for 26 Member States. DE explained that a number of reforms
are under way on judiciary, where the scope and scale of the reform process can vary within the 16 federal states.
Figure 1
Legislative and regulatory activity concerning justice systems in 2019 (adopted measures/initiatives under negotiation per Member State)
Adopted Under negotiation
0
5
10
15
20
25
Procedur al
law
ADR
methods
Administr ation
of courts
Council for the
Judiciary
Re-designi ng
of the judic ial
map
Court
specialisation
Public
prosecut ion
service
ICT in the
justic e syste m
Use of AI in
the justi ce
system
Legal aid Court fees Judges Prosecut ors Legal
professiona ls
Other
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