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EU: The Commission's 2015 justice "scoreboard" - glossing over the cracks?
11 March 2015
The European Commission has published its justice "scoreboard" for 2015, "which gives an overview of the quality, independence and efficiency of the justice systems of the Member States." The Commission's press release highlights a number of "key findings", on issues such as the efficiency of justice systems; use of information and communication technology; participation of judges in training on EU law; the availability of public online access to judgments; and a continuing gender imbalance in the makeup of the judiciary, particularly at more senior levels.
The press release neglects to mention the decline in the perceived independence of Member States' judicial systems. The data for 2013-14 show that in 11 of the EU's 28 Member States, the perceived independence of the judiciary declined compared to 2010-12. This has been pointed out in a number of news articles from across Europe:
Bulgaria Ranks Last But One in Perceived Juducial Independence, EU Justice Scoreboard (Novinite)
Italy ranks among lowest in EU Justice Scoreboard (Gazzetta del Sud)
Confidence in judiciary sinks to new low in Spain (The Local)
The data contained in the Commission's report is based on information from a World Economic Forum survey that asks: "To what extent is the judiciary in your country independent from the influences of members of government, citizens or firms?"
In the report, the Commission draws a number of conclusions on judicial independence, including (emphasis in original):
"Over the last three years, in most Member States the perception of independence has improved or remained stable. However, in a few Member States, an already low level of perceived independence has deteriorated further.
(...)
"As several Member States are envisaging reforms concerning their councils for the judiciary, or considering establishing such independent bodies, the 2015 Scoreboard provides an overview of the councils' powers and composition. This could assist Member States in ensuring the effectiveness of councils for safeguarding the independence of the judiciary...
"The Commission will encourage judicial networks to deepen their assessment of the effectiveness of legal safeguards and will reflect how these findings could be presented in future Scoreboards."
The aim of the Scoreboard is to "assist both the EU and Member States in achieving more effective justice systems for citizens and businesses," in order to "help reinforce growth strategies". The information put together for the scoreboard "feeds the European Semester, the EU annual economic policy coordination."
See:
European Commission: The 2015 EU Justice Scoreboard (pdf)
Press release: 2015 EU Justice Scoreboard: supporting Member States to improve their justice systems' effectiveness (pdf)