Published: 14.08.2024.

The strategy states that the overarching goal of the Judicial Council is to achieve equal representation of the judiciary in the dialogue between branches of state power in order to ensure the independence, quality, development and accountability of the judiciary.

In order to achieve the overarching goal, the Judicial Council sets the following goals, directions and tasks.

To promote the independence of the judiciary from the executive and to develop a guarantee of independence. In order to reach this objective, the following main tasks are set:

  • to achieve the financial independence of the judiciary as a constitutional body, as it already exists for other constitutional bodies;
  • to take over the management of matters of judges training from the executive branch;
  • to strengthen the judicial self-government institutions and their co-operation with the Judicial Council;
  • to advance the increase of self-assessment of the independence of judges;
  • to work on setting and developing professional standards for persons belonging to the judiciary;
  • to continue to participate in the development of a competitive remuneration model for judges and court staff;
  • to actively participate in the development of judicial policy and in the improvement of the regulatory framework on issues that directly affect the functioning of the judicial system.

Objective: The Judicial Council is a respected representative of the interests of the judiciary, including in the policy planning process. In order to reach this objective, the following main tasks are set:

  • to initiate a discussion on the status and functions of the Judicial Council, in particular on the need to provide the Judicial Council with the right of legislative initiative and to enshrine the Council in the Constitution as a constitutional body;
  • to develop and implement mechanisms for monitoring the progress of decisions taken by the Judicial Council;
  • to audit the functions of the organizational management of courts and to take over the necessary functions from the executive power, accordingly developing the administrative capacity of the Judicial Council;
  • to examine and analyse the necessity of changes in the composition of the Judicial Council and to initiate such changes, if necessary;
  • to consider the need to adjust the regulation on the voting rights of the members of the Judicial Council, so that decisions on the career development of judges would be the sole responsibility of judges;
  • to evaluate solutions in order to encourage the full involvement of judges in the work of the Judicial Council and in self-government institutions;
  • to develop the international co-operation of the Judicial Council by actively participating in the European Network of Councils for the Judiciary and regularly evaluating the experience of the European Union countries in streamlining the operation of judicial systems, as well as to promote co-operation and exchange of experience with other European Union judicial councils.

Objective: Efficient, convenient, timely, comprehensible and accessible to public court system. In order to reach this objective, the Judicial Council will focus on the following tasks:

  • to identify the factors essential for ensuring the quality and continuous improvement of court judgments and to provide a vision of the solution of problem situations;
  • to constantly monitor and evaluate the time limits for the examination of cases and the sufficiency of the resources of the judicial system to ensure reasonable time limits for legal proceedings;
  • to assess the efficiency of the judiciary and compliance with guarantees of access to justice, focusing in particular on the results of the territorial reform of courts and its impact on the functioning of the judiciary, as well as on the need for further actions;
  • to encourage discussion on the improvement of the regular evaluation procedure of judges, to ensure a more comprehensive and objective evaluation;
  • to promote digitization processes that facilitate the work of the judiciary;
  • to develop standards of specialization of judges;
  • to proactively promote problem identification in the judiciary;
  • to ensure liaison with chairs of courts;
  • to promote the establishment of a unified methodology for the evaluation of court employees and a unified remuneration system linked to it.

Objective: to ensure public understanding of the judiciary and increase public confidence in it. In order to reach this objective, the following tasks are set:

  • to establish a dialogue between the courts and the public, explaining the topicalities of the judiciary in the European judicial space;
  • to promote the fulfilment of the tasks of the communication strategy of the judicial system and the observance of the common communication principles in the judicial institutions;
  • to develop the skills of representatives of the judiciary to provide comprehensible, concrete and timely information on topical issues of the judiciary;
  • to educate the public, provide information on developments in the judicial system;
  • to periodically assess the public's trust in the judiciary and the attitude towards the judiciary and the work of the judiciary;
  • to maintain a constant dialogue with the constitutional bodies and to inform the public about its progress.