A high-level conference in Zagreb, Croatia on the project “Digital by default – optimisation of efficiency and quality of judicial services and transparency of judicial decisions” – is addressing new AI and machine-learning technologies to make the justice system more efficient and to ensure better data protection. Judicial decisions will soon be available to everyone in Croatia in an anonymised (pseudonymised) format in order to better respect privacy rights.

Held by the Council of Europe and the European Commission on Wednesday 12 October the conference gathered representatives of the Council of Europe, the European Commission, the Croatian Ministry of Justice and Public Administration, the Supreme Court of the Republic of Croatia, as well as other stakeholders from the justice sector. Since it began in May 2022, with the full support of the Croatian Ministry of Justice and Public Administration, the project has helped to usher in a new wave of IT tools aimed at optimising the way court decisions are anonymised and published in line with national law and EU standards, as well as in compliance with international human rights standards.

The project is co-funded by the European Commission via the Technical Support Instrument, and implemented by the Council of Europe, in co-operation with the European Commission’s Directorate General for Structural Reform Support (DG REFORM).