Europe presents e-justice

Examples: an Italian travelling in Germany needs a lawyer. A French entrepreneur wants to search the Hungarian land register. An Estonian judge has a question about the Spanish court system. At the moment, it may take weeks to get this information.

With the new portal “answers to these questions – in 22 European Union languages – will simply be a click away”.

«E-justice» will benefit citizens, businesses, lawyers and judges with cross-border legal questions and boost mutual understanding of different legal systems by contributing to the creation of a single area of justice.

With more than 12,000 pages of content, the first version provides information and links on laws and practices in all Member States.

For example, the portal offers information on legal aid, judicial training, and videoconferencing, as well as links to legal databases, online insolvency and land registers.

Justice information is now at the fingertips of more than 10 million citizens involved in cross-border judicial procedures each year.

Real life quandaries like divorce, death, litigation or simply moving home will all find quick answers here.

Citizens can also find a legal practitioner in another country, learn how to avoid costly court cases through mediation, where to bring a lawsuit, which of the 27-Member States’ laws applies in cases and whether they are eligible for legal aid.

“Citizens will get answers in their own language and they will get them quickly. We all know how crucial this is: justice delayed is justice denied”, said EC Vice-President Viviane Reding, Commissioner for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship.

New information, tools and functions will be added to the portal in the next few years. Fact sheets on defendants’ rights and victims’ rights in all EU Member States will be available in early 2011, including, for example, information on how road traffic offences are dealt with in different countries.

These fact sheets will serve as a basic reference tool for legal practitioners as well as citizens.

Visit «e-justice», Europe’s electronic justice portal on e-justice.europa.eu