Delay on European e-Justice Portal

The European e-Justice Portal will not become publicly available in the first half of 2010, according to a press release issued by the Council of the European Union and dated 3-4 June 2010. The Council further stated:

Concerning the European e-Justice portal, the Council expressed its disappointment and regretted that the portal would not be launched in the first half of 2010 as requested by the JHA [The EU’s Justice and Home Affairs] Council in November 2009 and in April 2010. The Council recalled that this would be the second delay in this work since the initial deadline (end 2009). In this context, the Council requested the [European] Commission to take all possible measures to ensure the prompt delivery of the first release of the portal and to continue work on future releases.

The portal is intended to provide a range of judicial and other law-related services to EU citizens. According to the Council, the services are to be introduced in stages, as follows:

• firstly, access to law and information at EU and national level (N-Lex, EUR-Lex, case-law), including pan-European databases (e.g. to find a lawyer or notary in another Member State);
• secondly, electronic communication between a judicial authority and the citizen (submission of applications to court, exchange of documents in court proceedings, such as the European order for payment procedure etc.); and
• thirdly, secure communication between judicial authorities in the cross-border context (information about videoconferencing, its availability and possibilities, secure exchange of legal assistance requests etc.).

Click here for an October 2009 EU presentation about the databases to be included in the portal.

Click here for the Council’s Multi annual European e-justice action plan 2009-2013 (OJ 2009/C 75/01), which provides more details about the portal.

HT Benjamin Lesjak.