The ENCJ Executive Board issued a statement addressing two pressing concerns related to the situation of the judiciary in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Firstly, the recent legislation in Republika Srpska (RS) that challenges the authority of the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council (HJPC) and threatens judges, prosecutors and members of the Council from RS with criminal sanctions.

The ENCJ Newsletter for the 1st quarter of 2025 is now available!

Please take a look at the latest developments regarding the judiciary in Belgium, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania and Slovakia.

ENCJ Office team 

On 21 February 2025, the ENCJ Executive Board issued a statement on the outcomes of the meetings in January 2025 with the Council for the Judiciary of Hungary (OBT), the National Judicial Office (OBH), the Minister of Justice and the representatives of the judicial associations MABIE and Res Judicata.

The ENCJ Executive Board notes that the independence of the judiciary in Hungary currently faces serious challenges.

The European Commission invited the ENCJ to contribute to the European Commission Rule of Law report 2025.

On 31 January 2025, the delegation of the ENCJ Executive Board will visit Hungary. The document attached provides information on the objectives of this visit and the meetings planned. 

Following the statement published by the ENCJ Executive Board on 15 November 2024, expressing concerns over Romania’s IT governance reform in the judiciary, and in the absence of any meaningful improvement since then, the Board has sent a letter to the Ministry of Justice reiterating its position and encouraging the Ministry to involve the judiciary, through the Judicial Council, in the IT reform process.

The European Commission has just released Rule of Law Report 2024, which addresses rule of law challenges in 27 EU countries and this year for the first time 4 enlargement countries Albania, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia.

At the ENCJ General Assembly 2024 in Rome, following a previous information provided by the Council for the Judiciary of Hungary (OBT) in January 2024, the OBT President took the opportunity to inform the ENCJ Members on the situation of judicial remuneration in Hungary.

In 2022 a survey among the ENCJ community showed that a decreasing attractiveness of the judicial profession was seen as an issue in a number of judiciaries. In this light, ENCJ circulated the questionnaire to take stock of the most pressing challenges.

In the year 2023-2024 working group addressed topics of narrowing pool of candidates, selection procedures and working conditions of judges, including stress related aspects and remuneration.