Programme

Public hearing on "Effective legal protection and access to justice for all - a fundamental rights perspective"

Co-organisers: The European Commission and the European Economic and Social Committee

Via Interactio, online platform, EESC, Thursday, 14 March 2024 from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

09.00 a.m. - 10.00 a.m. | Registration and testing connection

10.00 a.m. - 10.15 a.m. | Welcome

• Laurenţiu Plosceanu, Vice-President, European Economic and Social Committee
• Julien Mousnier, Director, European Commission, DG Justice and Consumers, Rule of Law, Fundamental Rights and Democracy

10.15 a.m. - 10.45 a.m. | Presentation of the 2023 Annual report on the application of the Fundamental Rights Charter: “Effective legal protection and access to justice'

• Ingrid Bellander-Todino, Head of Unit, European Commission, DG Justice and Consumers, Unit C.2: Fundamental rights policy

Questions & answers

10.45 a.m. - 11.00 a.m. | Coffee break

11.00 a.m. - 11.45 p.m. | Opening panel – Setting the scene

Moderator: Paul Soete, FRRL Group President

• Mariolina Eliantonio, Full professor at Maastricht University on European and Comparative Law and Procedure

Questions & answers

11.45 p.m. - 01.00 p.m. | Expert panel on enhancing access to justice through the digitalisation of justice

The panel will reflect how the ongoing efforts to digitalize justice can strengthen everyone’s access to justice.

Approach: 5 min intro, topic by topic [TBC]

Moderator: Ozlem Yildirim, FRRL Group Vice-President

• Gösta Petri, Team Leader, European Commission, DG Justice and Consumers, Unit A.1: Digital transition & Judicial training
• Laura Stelzer, Legislative Officer, European Commission, DG Justice and Consumers, Unit A5: Criminal Procedural Law
• Jiri Novak, Chair of the IT Law Committee, Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE)
• Mathias Maurer, IT Consultant European Affairs, SimpliVi project on video conferencing

Questions and answers

01.00 p.m. - 02.30 p.m. | Lunch break

02.30 p.m. - 03.55 p.m. | Expert panel on ensuring access to justice without leaving anyone behind 

The panel will highlight various aspects of strengthening the access to justice for people from different groups, and describe some challenges faced in this regard.

Moderator: Dovilė Juodkaitė, FRRL Group Member

• Jana Gajdosova, Head of Justice and Security Sector, European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA)
• Cédric Foussard, Global Advisor on Justice with Children, Terre des hommes and Steering Committee Member for Child-friendly justice European Network (CFJ-EN)
• Kersty McCourt, Project Director, The STARLIGHT program of the Hertie School and the Hungarian Helsinki Committee 

Questions & answers

03.55 p.m. - 04.00 p.m. | Concluding remarks

• Paul Soete, FRRL Group President

Interpretation requested from French, German, English, Dutch, Spanish, Swedish and Polish into French, German and English