Independence of the judiciary as an aspect of rule of law compliance

Expected Outcome:

Projects should contribute to all of the following expected outcomes:

• EU authorities and public authorities in the Member States have access to comparative research information on the independence, impartiality and integrity of judicial institutions across the EU to ensure the rights to an effective remedy and fair trial and to strengthen accountability in the broad sense.
• Policymakers and judicial authorities have a better understanding of the functioning of the safeguards for judicial independence in each other's justice systems, also strengthening judicial cooperation between the Member States.
• Policymakers and public administrations in Member States are provided with research on the implementation at national level of international and EU rules and standards to better assess their impact on judicial independence.
• The EU's capacity to proactively promote rule of law, fundamental human rights and democracy is strengthened with a better understanding of the functioning of the safeguards for judicial independence in the Member States, including their context, current legal practice, the statutory framework, leading court cases and major relevant developments with up to date, reliable and comparable information.

Scope:

Judicial independence is a principle of EU law, closely linked to the rule of law, the right to a fair trial and effective judicial protection, as guaranteed by the Treaty on European Union and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU.

The EU already benefits from several tools to ensure the respect of the rule of law. These instruments serve to promote the rule of law, prevent rule of law problems from emerging, and respond to them when they materialize.

On the preventive side, one of the tools is the annual EU Justice Scoreboard which has been providing comparable data on the independence, quality, and efficiency of national justice systems since 2013. In addition, the annual European Rule of Law Mechanism, with the annual Rule of Law Report at its centre, has been providing since 2020 a qualitative assessment of significant developments in the areas of justice, anti-corruption, media independence and institutional checks and balances in every Member State^[1], including specific recommendations for all Member States, aiming to prevent challenges to the rule of law from emerging or deepening.

Gaining a better understanding on the implementation of international and EU standards and its impact on judicial independence is crucial to support the EU's capacity to proactively promote rule of law, fundamental human rights, and democracy.

Reflecting on reform activities at national level and the complexity of national justice systems, proposals should contribute to improve the understanding of the functioning of the safeguards for judicial independence in each other's justice systems. This can be achieved with a multidisciplinary research approach (including research in SSH disciplines), complementing the data and analysis gathered through the annual EU Justice Scoreboard and annual Rule of Law Report.

While using a multidisciplinary approach such as a socio-legal approach, proposals should compare and critically assess national frameworks for judicial independence. Special focus should be put on how national rules, covering e.g. the procedure regarding appointments, promotion and dismissals of judges and members of judicial administration bodies, workload assessment of judges, allocation of cases, disciplinary proceedings, and transfers of judges, work in practice.

Proposals should also contribute to building concrete knowledge on current legal practice, the statutory framework, leading court cases and major relevant developments at national level with up to date, reliable and comparable information in the Member states and in the enlargement countries.

Additionally, a comparative analysis on the independence, impartiality and integrity of judicial institutions across the EU could serve as a case to illustrate the rights to an effective remedy and fair trial, and also to strengthen accountability in the broad sense.

To support this goal, proposals should provide an outline for a comparative analysis of the safeguards for judicial independence in the Member States and, where appropriate, enlargement countries. Proposals should also highlight good practices on the implementation of international and EU rules and standards at national level.

Based on the research on the implementation of international and EU rules and standards at national level, policy recommendations could be developed to reflect on how judicial cooperation between the Member States could be strengthened.

Proposals are encouraged to network with and build on previously funded projects under the Horizon Europe^[2], Horizon 2020 or other EU programmes, e.g. Citizen, Equality, Rights and Values, and the Internal Security Fund (ISF)^[3]. Clustering and cooperation with other selected projects under this topic and other relevant projects are strongly encouraged.

[1] Since 2024, the Rule of Law Report has also been covering selected candidate countries.

[2] In particular the projects funded under HORIZON-CL2-2024-DEMOCRACY-01-03: What is the long-term impact of rule of law and other European values on socio-economic outcomes.

[3] Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values Programme - European Commission (europa.eu) and Internal Security Fund - European Commission (europa.eu)