The Council of Europe’s European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice (CEPEJ) has adopted a new tool designed to help countries reduce backlogs of court cases, a frequent issue encountered by many states and highly detrimental to the right to a fair trial within a reasonable time, as enshrined in Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights. This new roadmap to national judicial systems will allow states to identify and address structural delays in court proceedings.
The notion of ‘Backlog’ refers to pending cases at the court concerned which have not been resolved within an established timeframe (*). This accumulation of pending cases stems from various issues, such as an inadequate legal framework, insufficient court resources to deal with incoming cases, shortcomings in case management practices etc. This situation is problematic because it leads to substantial delays in court cases, increases the cost of legal proceedings, contributes to legal uncertainty and has a negative impact on public perception of and confidence in judicial systems.
It is with a view of addressing this detrimental dynamic that the CEPEJ has created this tool. Its main goal is to give general directions on how to identify the problem in a given judicial system and provide examples that could inspire actions aimed at resolving backlogs and preventing procedural delays in member states.
Based on the experiences gained from its practical implementation, this tool is intended to evolve, making it a dynamic resource that will be updated accordingly.
