Commission Communication to the European Parliament and the Council on the Digitalisation of Justice in the European Union
Date: 2020-07-30
Institutions: Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers, European Commission
Subjects: fundamental rights



PART-2020-357943V1.docx











ROADMAP  






Roadmaps aim to inform citizens and stakeholders about the Commission's work in order to allow them to provide feedback and to participate effectively in future consultation activities. Citizens and stakeholders are in particular invited to provide views on the Commission's understanding of the problem and possible solutions and to make available any relevant information that they may have. 






Title of the initiative




Digitalisation of justice in the European Union 







Lead DG – responsible unit 




DG JUST.B3






Likely Type of initiative




Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on the Digitalisation of justice in the European Union







Indicative Planning




Q4 2020 






Additional Information




-






This Roadmap is provided for information purposes only and its content might change. It does not prejudge the final decision of the Commission on whether this initiative will be pursued or on its final content. All elements of the initiative described by the Roadmap, including its timing, are subject to change.










A. Context, Problem definition and Subsidiarity Check






Context 






Independence, quality and efficiency of justice are essential for effective justice systems in the European Union (EU). At present judicial proceedings - in particular in cross-border situations - still take place mostly on paper and are based on traditional transmission channels. This situation does not provide a modern access to justice in an environment that is more and more digitalised and it is detrimental for citizens and businesses. The COVID-19 crisis has highlighted the need to launch and accelerate different actions related to the transformation of justice by employing digital technologies. 


Digitalisation of justice systems is an important objective to pursue as part of a new push for European democracy and in line with the political priority of a Europe fit for the digital age.
1
 Both the European Council
2
  and the European Parliament
                           3
 have recognised the digital transformation as having an important role in relaunching and modernising the EU economy.


The European Semester has highlighted that effective justice systems are crucial to attracting business and enabling economic growth. In this context, digitalisation of justice is an important condition for improving further the quality of justice systems.


The Commission has been working on European e-Justice since 2008, in close collaboration with the Council of the EU, and the various associations of legal professionals. Since 2009, work on e-Justice has followed the implementation of priority initiatives embodied in several successive Strategies and Action Plans (currently the third e-Justice Strategy
4
 and Action Plan
5
 for 2019-2023). 


The European Commission’s Communication of 27 May 2020 on “Europe's moment: Repair and Prepare for the Next Generation”
6
 reiterates that the digitisation of justice systems can improve access to justice and the operation of the business environment. The Council Conclusions on shaping Europe’s digital future from 9 June 2020 call on the Commission to facilitate the digital cross-border exchanges between the Member States both in criminal and civil matters.
7









Problem the initiative aims to tackle






At present, data exchanges in the context of cross-border judicial cooperation via the paper channel present a number of inefficiencies, mainly related to the ease of access to justice and the speed of cross-border exchanges – affecting negatively judicial proceedings and citizens and businesses.


Many Member States have been moving to a larger or lesser extent towards electronic means of communication. Nonetheless, this process takes place slowly, including in relation to cross-border cooperation. The present situation is predicated by a variety of factors, inter alia: cost considerations, paper-based communication at the domestic level, resistance to change, lack of shared technical interoperability standards, insufficient regulation on the use of electronic signatures/seals and absence of provisions governing the legal admissibility of digital documents and forms.


The COVID-19 crisis has had a substantial impact on the functioning of justice systems. Many cross-border and national procedures had to be suspended, de facto depriving in many cases citizens and businesses from effective access to justice. Such access in time of crisis is essential for the millions of individuals and companies concerned by civil justice, in particular the most vulnerable. Digitalisation was identified as a tool to address some of the resulting issues, particularly to avoid similar hardship in the future and to clear the backlog caused by the crisis.  At the same time, the development of digital solutions should also cater for the needs of citizens suffering from disabilities. Furthermore, such solutions should not entirely replace traditional channels of communication in order to prevent hampering access to justice for, inter alia, marginalised groups, individuals with low IT skills or those who still do not have internet access.


Moreover, there is a clear need for digitalisation in the area of cross-border criminal law, where besides the national competent authorities also a number of EU agencies and bodies play an important role. Following discussions at the Justice and Home Affairs Council in December 2018, the Commission conducted, in close collaboration with Eurojust, the “Digital Criminal Justice” study. Its results will be published soon. According to the report
8
 published by Europol in March 2020, the COVID-19 crisis led to a substantial increase in cross-border cybercrime, fraud and scam schemes (e.g. entities purchasing medical protection products were not receiving them), increased sale of unauthorised and counterfeit medical devices and other new challenges. 






Basis for EU intervention (legal basis and subsidiarity check)






Article 81 (judicial cooperation in civil matters) and 82 (judicial cooperation in criminal matters) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union confer relevant Union competence. 


The initiative focuses on the digitalisation of cross-border judicial cooperation in civil and criminal matters, access to justice for citizens and businesses in cross-border procedures in civil matters, as well on digitalisation of cooperation between EU institutions, agencies and bodies in criminal matters. At the same time, within the limits of EU competence, it could suggest certain actions to encourage digitalisation of justice at national level as a prerequisite for digitalisation of justice in a pan-European context. The current cooperation on e-Justice in the Union follows the third package of Strategies and Action Plans (covering the period 2019-2023). Different actions of common relevance and importance are undertaken on a voluntary basis. Based on previous experiences, the results of these actions are most of the time positive and of tangible added value, yet voluntary cooperation is often limited in participation and level of ambition. The COVID-19 crisis has shown the need for a more holistic approach to modernisation of European justice, one that is resilient to emerging challenges. This requires establishment of clear EU priorities and tools for the digitalisation of justice. 


 






B. What does the initiative aim to achieve and how 






The Communication aims to seize the opportunities offered by digital technologies in view of providing seamless access to justice and enabling efficient cross-border judicial cooperation. It aims to steer and co-ordinate a process at EU level to accelerate the digitalisation of judicial procedures, to foster interoperability of different national systems, and the uptake of new technologies in the day-to-day functioning of justice systems. It would focus on those proceedings where the EU has competence, in particular in cross-border cases, but also in exchange of best practices and in facilitation of coordination and cooperation in the implementation of actions at national level.  


The Communication would take stock of the progress made until now in the area of digitalisation of justice systems at EU level. The Communication would point to existing problems with the use of digital proceedings and outline best practices, also taking into account the data available as part of the EU Justice Scoreboard. 


The Communication would also highlight specific challenges and barriers to efficient cross-border judicial cooperation. It would present ideas on how to make cooperation more digital pointing also to the necessary funding, training etc. needs in order to foster the uptake by all concerned stakeholders. 


The Communication could propose a “toolbox approach” towards greater digitalisation. It could inter alia suggest starting a process of reflection towards a legislative framework for digital cooperation in certain cross-border procedures regulated by EU law. 


The appropriate legal framework would need to be underpinned by comprehensive IT solutions. While there are already certain existing IT systems ensuring electronic cross-border cooperation for specific purposes, the Communication could present fresh ideas in view to an overarching architecture allowing combination and re-use of different IT solutions. 


The Communication could also consider improving digital cooperation between relevant EU institutions, agencies and bodies, such as Eurojust and the European Public Prosecutor´s Office (EPPO), as well as national authorities. This is particularly important in the area of criminal justice, in which the lack of effective and swift communication channels is apparent. 


The Communication could highlight possible funding sources related to the creation of IT tools necessary for the digitalisation of justice at national and cross-border level, as well as for judicial training. It would also explore the potential of innovative technologies in improving the efficiency of justice.


Finally, the Communication could point to short-term and long-term actions, presenting timing for its different initiatives. It would also cross-reference other relevant initiatives in order to ensure synergies, for instance with the potential European Judicial Training Strategy.






C. Better regulation






Consultation of citizens and stakeholders






The Commission has been actively involved in the implementation of different projects related to digitalisation, including with Member States and with the major associations of legal professionals.


One of the results of these actions is the European e-Justice Portal
9
, providing information on justice systems to citizens, businesses and legal practitioners. The Portal allows filling in the necessary forms for the different cross-border European procedures, and already provides a number of user-centric electronic cross-border services. For example, users are able to locate a lawyer or a notary throughout the EU, search for a competent body, consult national insolvency and business registers via a uniform search interface, or access case law decisions issued by European and national courts via a specialised search engine. Citizens and businesses are regularly providing feedback on the Portal and on the challenges they face affecting cross-border cases.


Against this backdrop, the Commission is in possession of the necessary information to kick-off a more focused and coordinated future process with the Communication. Furthermore, the Commission will liaise with Member States authorities and with targeted stakeholders, especially from legal professions, with a view to collect further input, including as regards the challenges to access to justice posed by the COVID-19 crisis.  






 Evidence base and data collection






The Commission maintains the EU Justice Scoreboard, which on annual basis provides data on the independence, quality and efficiency of national justice systems. In its most recent 2020 edition
10
, the Scoreboard demonstrates that while digitalisation of national justice systems is well underway, significant divergences still exist between Member States.


The Council discusses different issues related to the digitalisation of justice in the e-Law (e-Justice) Working Party and its specialised expert groups. These discussions allow for an exchange of information about specific actions that are being undertaken by Member States. On this basis, the Commission has been able to identify existing challenges in the digitalisation of justice. The Communication would outline current obstacles and propose ways forward. The “Digital Criminal Study”, carried out by the Commission in 2019-2020 to be published very soon, has also demonstrated strong stakeholder support for a number of actions towards ensuring the secure and interoperable communication between the competent Member State authorities as well as with and between the EU agencies and bodies in the area of criminal law.


With regard to the advent of innovative technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and distributed ledger technologies, such as the blockchain
11
, the Commission has recently conducted several studies – e.g. on the use of innovative technologies in justice systems and on digital criminal justice. The results and conclusions of these studies will be published soon and they would feed into the Communication.


The Communication would present an overall toolbox of potential measures for the digitalisation of justice in the European Union. Any follow-up actions may require the use of further tools stemming from Better Regulation requirements (such as Impact Assessments), if necessary. 










(1)
 
h
ttps://ec.europa.eu/commission/sites/beta-political/files/political-guidelines-next-commission_en.pdf



(2)
 
https://www.consilium.europa.eu/media/43384/roadmap-for-recovery-final-21-04-2020.pdf
 



(3)
 
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-9-2020-0054_EN.html
 



(4)
 
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:52019XG0313(01)&rid=7
 



(5)
 
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:52019XG0313(02)&rid=6
 



(6)
 
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?qid=1590732521013&uri=COM:2020:456:FIN



(7)
 
https://data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/document/ST-8711-2020-INIT/en/pdf
 



(8)
 
https://www.europol.europa.eu/publications-documents/pandemic-profiteering-how-criminals-exploit-covid-19-crisis
 



(9)
 
                        
https://e-justice.europa.eu/
 



(10)
 
                        
https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/info/files/justice_scoreboard_2020_en.pdf
 



(11)
 You may find information about blockchain technologies on the website of the European Commission: 
https://ec.europa.eu/digital-single-market/en/blockchain-technologies