Access to Justice in times of crisis
In 2020-2021 the ENCJ ran a project on access to fair and impartial courts' during a state of emergency. The main aim was to study the rules for guaranteeing access to justice (right to an effective remedy and to a fair trial as laid down in Article 47 of the EU Charter for Fundamental Rights) during a state of emergency, in order to be prepared to face other crisis.
These minimum standards concerned, in particular, respect for the rule of law, guarantees of access to courts, preservation of the security of legal professional and users of the judicial system, processing and follow-up of cases and impact of use of new technologies on the judicial work.
There was a specific focus on the role that the Councils for the Judiciary and the courts should play in order to preserve independence of the judiciary, during crisis but also after crisis.
