17 June, 2024
From June 12 to 14, the General Assembly of the European Network of Councils for the Judiciary (ENCJ) dedicated to access to justice was held in Rome (Italy). Next year, the ENCJ General Assembly will take place in Riga (Latvia) from June 4 to 6.
At the ENCJ General Assembly, representatives of the ENCJ member states mainly discussed the issue of access to justice in the EU case-law, access to justice for immigrants and vulnerable social groups, as well as the impact of artificial intelligence and digitization on access to justice.
The ENCJ General Assembly also held elections for the new president and five Board members. Madeleine Mathieu, a member of the French High Council for the Judiciary, was elected as the President of the ENCJ.
The ENCJ work plan for 2024-2025 and the Rome Declaration on access to justice were approved. Moreover, implemented and pending projects of the ENCJ were also presented. The Chair of the Latvian Judicial Council Aigars Strupišs and the representative of the High Council of Justice of Belgium presented the developed guidelines for strengthening the attractiveness of the judicial career.
Representatives of the ENCJ member states met with the President of Italy Sergio Mattarella, who is also the President of the Italian High Council of the Judiciary. During the meeting, the issues of the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary were discussed by Sergio Mattarella and representatives of the ENCJ member states.
The ENCJ Award for Positive Change 2024 was also presented at the ENCJ General Assembly. Spain won the vote and received the Award for the project – an easy-to-read system of court rulings, which provides for the transformation of the text of court rulings into an easy-to-read format for people with intellectual disabilities.
The Latvian delegation at the ENCJ General Assembly included Aigars Strupišs, the Chair of the Judicial Council and the President of the Supreme Court, Solvita Harbaceviča, an Adviser to the President of the Supreme Court on matters of the Judicial Council, and Dārta Eglīte, an Assistant to the President of the Supreme Court.
Additional information:
The ENCJ unites the national institutions in the member states of the European Union which are independent of the executive and legislature. The purpose of the establishment of the ENCJ is to promote the cooperation of the Judicial Councils of the EU member states, the mutual exchange of experience and the analysis of shared information. Judicial Council of Latvia has been a member of the ENCJ since 2011.
The ENCJ Board consists of a chairperson elected by the General Assembly and representatives of 7 member states. Until now, the duties of the President of the ENCJ were performed by Dalia Vasarienė, a Member of the Lithuanian Judicial Council, a Judge of the Supreme Court of Lithuania. Whereas, on June 7, 2023, Aigars Strupišs, the Chair of the Latvian Judicial Council, was elected to the ENCJ Board as a representative of the Latvian Judicial Council. Aigars Strupišs shall fulfil his duties as a member of the ENCJ Board until the ENCJ General Assembly takes place in 2025.
More information about ENCJ and the General Assembly is available here.