In 2005 the European Commission and the Council of Europe created the European "Crystal Scales of Justice" prize for innovative practices in civil justice organisation and procedures in the courts of Europe. The Prize was awarded in the civil justice field in 2005, 2006 and 2008, and in the criminal justice field in 2009. In 2010, the European Commission and the Council of Europe decided to establish one single award in the justice field.
Competition conditions
The 2010 competition is open to courts, associations of legal professionals, prosecutor's offices, prison or probation administrations, non-governmental organisations or any other entity responsible for justice affairs in the Member States of the European Union or the Council of Europe.
The initiatives must have been introduced in order to improve the organisation and procedures of justice systems, particularly for the users of justice, or to improve mutual knowledge and exchange of best practice in the area of justice. They must therefore be innovative practices and their results must be measurable.
An initiative which has been short-listed in the previous editions of the Prize, cannot be presented for another edition of the competition. A court, prosecution office, Bar Association or association of legal professionals, prison/probation administration, non governmental organisations or any other entity responsible for justice affairs can present several initiatives for the same edition of the competition.
Organisation of the competition
The competition is jointly organised by the European Commission's Directorate General for Justice, Freedom and Security and the Council of Europe's Directorate General of Human Rights and Legal Affairs of the Council of Europe.
Entries
The applications shall be submitted, electronically or by post, to one of the addresses indicated below. The deadline for applications is 30 June 2010.
CEPEJ Secretariat –“Crystal Scales of Justice” Prize
Directorate General of Human Rights and Legal Affairs
Council of Europe
F – 67075 STRASBOURG Cedex
E-mail:
Fax: (33) 3.88.41.37.43
or
Crystal Scales of Justice
European Commission
DG Justice, Freedom and Security
Unit E1
B-1049 BRUXELLES
E-mail:
Fax: (32) 22.97.95.88
The applications shall be submitted, preferably in English or in French or, where this is not possible, in one of official languages of the European Union.
The applications must include:
1) An application form duly filled in, in accordance with the attached model;
2) A summary of the initiative, in accordance with the attached model;
3) If necessary, a limited number of annexed documents can be included. If those are in an original language other than English or French, a brief summary in English or French should be presented.
Composition of the jury
The jury is composed of 10 members and 1 President, appointed by the organisers.
Selection procedure of the projects
The applications which will fulfil the abovementioned formal criteria will be transmitted to the members of the jury by the organisers.
Each member of the jury shall transmit to the organisers, electronically and prior to the meeting of the jury, a list of the 5 projects which he or she considers should be pre-selected.
On the basis of this, the organisers will establish a list of 10 pre-selected projects. The list will be sent to the members of the jury for further examination. The members of the jury shall respect the secrecy of the composition of this list.
The jury will asses the 10 preselected projects in order to proceed with the selection of prize-winning projects.
The jury will select 4 projects by secret ballot specifying an order of preference.
The method will be that each member of the jury shall award 4 points to the best project, 3 points to the second placed project, 2 points to the third placed project and one point to the fourth placed project. After counting the points, in the event of a tie a second vote by simple majority can be taken in order to decide between two projects with the same number of points.
The project which has received the highest number of points will be awarded the “Crystal Scales of Justice” Prize. The three other projects will be given a “special mention” by the jury.
Criteria for eligibility and selection of projects
The jury must ensure that the projects fulfil the following criteria of eligibility:
- deal with judicial procedures or court organisation,
- deal with innovative practices effectively implemented,
- have improved the functioning of justice
- can be applied to other jurisdictions or states.
During the selection of the eligible projects, the jury must also ensure:
- compliance with the objectives of the Prize,
- quality of the projects,
- balance between the different legal systems,
- balance in the themes dealt with by the projects.
The Prize Update with no indication of time and place, but retain publicity
The representatives of the institutions or organisations which submitted the best four projects will be invited to attend the awarding ceremony.
The organisers undertake to arrange appropriate publicity for the prize-winning initiative and for the three projects that receive a special mention.
Cancellation of the competition
The organisers reserve the right to cancel the competition at any time. If this happens, participants will be individually informed as soon as possible.
For more information and application form: http://ec.europa.eu/justice_home/news/events/news_events_en.htm
