PROJECT INFORMATION

The project

The EuroMed Justice III project funded by the EU with a budget of € 5 million over the period 2011-2014, follows the success of EuroMed Justice I and II such as the development of a Euro-Mediterranean area of cooperation in the field of justice by supporting the development of partners’ capacity and backing the modernisation of justice, including an improved access to justice.

This project is implemented by a consortium led by the European Institute of Public Administration (EIPA) and composed of FIIAPP (Fundación Internacional y para Iberoamérica de Administración y Políticas Públicas), IRZ (Deutsche Stiftung für Internationale Rechtliche Zusammenarbeit) and SOFRECO (Société Française de Réalisation d´Etudes et de Conseil). EIPA’s Antenna in Barcelona will function as the Programme Management Unit for the EuroMed Justice III Project.

The beneficiaries of this project are the ENPI South countries and territories: the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria, the Arab Republic of Egypt, Israel, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, Lebanon, the Kingdom of Morocco, the Palestinian Authority, the Syrian Arab Republic (formally part of the project even if there is a partial and temporary suspension of the EuroMed Justice III project in terms of Syrian participation), the Republic of Tunisia and Libya, as new ENPI South Beneficiary Country of the Project.

The Components

The project revolves around three main components:

  • Access to justice and legal aid
  • Resolution of cross-border family conflicts
  • Criminal and penitentiary law

The objectives

The project shall also contribute to the enhancement of the cooperation – as well as explore possibilities to liaise and create synergies/collaborations – between the beneficiary countries and relevant EU judicial cooperation units and networks such as, among others, EuroJust, the European Judicial Networks in Criminal matters and in Civil and Commercial matters, and the European Judicial Training Network (this will consist in strengthening the relations with the Judicial Training Centres existing in the ENPI South partner countries in order to further ensure a replication of the training activities apart from the train-the-trainers mechanism used for the training sessions) and find ways of facilitating the role of the liaison magistrates.

The general strengthening of the existing contacts among the inter-professional community of magistrates and law professionals, as well as of the existing contacts among the Judicial Training Centres in the ENPI South region, should also be an important outcome of the project.

Target Groups

The target groups of the project are judges, prosecutors, lawyers, auxiliaries of justice, officials of the Ministries of Justice and other authorities and institutions, including within the civil society, involved in the functioning and reform of justice systems in the ENPI South partner countries. The differences in the structure of the legal professions in the different countries do not allow a strict definition of a typical target group.

The project foresees a close cooperation with the target groups representing the Ministry of Justice and the Judiciary and the proposed activities will see a maximum of coordination with them.

Specific activities

A) Access to Justice and Legal Aid

Drafting of a research report carried out by external expertise in agreement with partner countries containing a comparative review of national experiences of procedural simplification. The report, once drafted, will be made available to the authorities of the ENPI South partner countries. In particular the research report on procedural simplification in the Mediterranean region will identify approaches that can be considered as especially relevant against the backdrop of the reform trends already ongoing in the EU. A general trend in the administration of justice in the Euro-Mediterranean region is toward simplification, in the name of which there is both a tendency to reserve the use of most elaborate procedures only for disputes of a certain importance and an effort at increasing the use of non-judicial dispute resolution bodies.

Realisation of a Working Group on Access to Justice and Legal Aid composed of members of  the target groups. Its aim will be to prepare a handbook describing approaches and best practices in the fields of access to justice and legal aid, with special regard to the needs of underprivileged social groups. Sessions will be organised involving participants from each ENPI South partner

country which will be devoted to the issues to be included in the handbook.

Realisation of a Working Group on Justice and the New Technologies composed of members of the target groups. Sessions will be organised involving participants from each ENPI South partner country. Its aim will be to prepare a handbook describing approaches and best practices with regards to the use of technologies for the management of cases, circulation of documents

and/or files, data collection in the legal field and communication of case law to the public.

Organisation of training sessions on specific technologies aimed at improving access to justice, like methodologies for collecting and analysing data concerning the administration of justice, and methodologies for case management. These training activities will be designed for the members of the working group based on the needs identified during the working group sessions.

Organisation of study visits in selected EU Member States on the themes covered by this component will take place involving representatives of each ENPI South partner country. 

B) Resolution of Cross-border Family Conflicts

Drafting of a research report, carried out by external expertise after agreement with partner countries and containing an overview of the current situation in the ENPI South region and a comparative review of national experiences in the field of resolution of cross-border family conflicts. Once completed, the report will be made available to the authorities of the ENPI South partner countries.

Realisation of a Working Group on Resolution of Cross-border Family Conflicts composed of members of the target groups, aimed at preliminarily reviewing the obstacles to the adoption of the Hague conventions and then preparing a handbook on best practices concerning the resolution of cross-border family conflicts taking into account the experience of the Hague Conference and of the Malta Process.

Organisation of training sessions on current legislation and international conventions in the field of cross-border family litigations, involving participants from each ENPI South partner country. The content of the sessions will be defined taking into account the suggestions and contributions received from the beneficiary countries.

Organisation of study visits in selected EU Member States on the theme concerned by this component will take place involving representatives of each ENPI South partner country.

C) Criminal and Penitentiary Law

Realisation of a Working Group on Criminal Law composed of members of the target groups and experts in national criminal law and procedure. Besides the promotion of the improvement of the legislative framework, the effectiveness of judicial cooperation shall also be pursued by making the relevant information available to the different actors. Working group sessions will be organised for representatives from each of the beneficiary countries, aiming at the preparation of a tool equivalent to the so-called “fiches belges” for the ENPI South partner countries, in order to support the mutual knowledge of the different judicial systems.

Organisation of training sessions on such issues as international conventions on criminal and penitentiary law, methods for the effective exchange of information between national authorities in the context of judicial cooperation, liaison magistrates, etc. The content of the sessions will be defined taking into account the suggestions and contributions received from the beneficiary countries.

Organisation of study visits in selected EU Member States on the theme concerned by this component will take place involving representatives of each ENPI South partner country.

D) Judicial Training Centres

Organisation of two meetings with representatives of the Judicial Training Centres (or comparable institutions) of the Euro-Mediterranean region, aimed at assessing the added value and proposing possible ways of strengthening the first contacts established among the Judicial Training Centres during the previous EuroMed Justice projects, linking them to the activities of the European Judicial Training Network. These meetings will be the way to transfer to the Judicial Training Centres of the ENPI South partner countries the documentation produced in the training sessions in order to ensure the replication of the training activities in the beneficiary countries and to ensure a sustainable impact.

E) Cross-cutting activities

Beside the actions specific to each component, a number of activities of general value for the development of justice systems, and which will convey the progress of the project as a whole, shall be realised:

Regional Conferences:

The project will schedule the organisation of three Regional Conferences.

Project Website:

The creation and updating of a website (www.euromed-justice.eu) which will allow the participants in the project activities to exchange information and will provide a range of relevant information on justice co-operation, such as: conclusions of meetings, working documents of meetings and training activities, project timetable and work plan, references to publications and major events. Moreover, all the publications (research reports, handbooks, etc.) will be made available via the website.