The 2015 EU Justice Scoreboard: Alignment of Justice Systems in Europe

On 9 March 2015, the EU Commission released the current EU Justice Scoreboard, a survey which was first published in 2013, and which compares the efficiency of the justice systems in the different EU Member States by applying criteria such as the length of proceedings and the rate of resolving cases. The EU Commission thereby aims to point out possibilities for improvement to and by the EU Member States, and to advance the attractiveness of the EU as an investment location.

Compared to the previous years, the Commission notes that the justice systems in the EU appear to be gradually aligning themselves with respect to criteria such as quality, efficiency and independence. However, several countries still have a lot of catching up to do, and not all countries provided all required survey data.

The German justice system is in a good position, compared to most other EU countries. The average length of 200 days for both the conduct and conclusion of civil and commercial dispute proceedings in the courts of first instance is among the shortest in the EU. However, it needs to be taken into account in this regard that, in comparison to other countries, there appears to be no big desire on behalf of parties in Germany to litigate: Whereas in Germany there is less than one pending civil or commercial litigation matter per 100 inhabitants, in Italy there are five to six per 100 inhabitants. We believe that the low figure in Germany is also due to successful out-of-court settlements being reached, which settlements are greatly valued in the German legal culture.

With respect to the independence of the justice system, Germany similarly holds a top position, closely behind Finland, Denmark, Ireland, the UK, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, and before Sweden.

According to the EU Commission, Germany does, however, have some catching up to do regarding online access by parties to litigation proceedings and the electronic communication with courts. Other EU countries are a step ahead in this respect. This having been said, it is intended that from 2016 onwards, an electronic court mailbox enabling communication between lawyers and courts shall be implemented nationwide.

The recently published survey is based on figures from 2010, 2012 and 2013. Since 2013, the EU Commission has been publishing the Justice Scoreboard annually. It hopes to thus gain insights into the development of the justice systems in Europe.