Type: Acts of the European Union: Communication “2021 EU Justice Scoreboard”

Authority: European Authorities - European Union: European Commission

Date: 07/08/2021

Subject: According to the Commission, the scoreboard shows a continued improvement in the effectiveness of justice systems in large majority of Member States. While it is too early in this edition to fully capture the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the efficiency of courts in handling cases, several figures can already provide some initial insights on how the justice systems responded to it, including on how national supreme courts adapted their procedures. In particular, the new dedicated section on the digitalisation of justice systems shows that the majority of Member States already have different digital tools at the disposal of courts, prosecutors and staff members, but significant room for improvement remains. Furthermore, challenges remain to ensure full trust of citizens in the legal systems of Member States where guarantees of status and position of judges, and thereby their independence, might be at risk. The information contained in the EU Justice Scoreboard contributes to the monitoring carried out in the framework of the European Rule of Law Mechanism and feeds into the Commission’s annual Rule of Law Report.

Classification: Justice - Art. 47 Justice: remedy - Justice: effective

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