The Republic of Azerbaijan carries out wide judicial-legal reforms in order to improve the efficiency of justice and attaches great importance to cooperation with leading international organisations. The Project “Support to increased efficiency of courts, improved training of judges and judicial self-governance in Azerbaijan” successfully implemented in the framework of the Partnership for Good Governance between the Council of Europe and the European Union, is a good example of such fruitful cooperation.

One of the positive aspects of this project was the practical meaning it carried. During two years there were organised visits to the pilot courts, useful activities implemented in some European countries, as well as in Strasbourg and Baku.

In the course of the project, satisfaction surveys have been prepared and organised in the pilot courts, trainings on court management held for judges and court staff, best practices learnt in regard to implementation of the CEPEJ guidelines on judicial statistics and judicial time management. 

The efficient cooperation during the above-mentioned activities, valuable recommendations and practical support from the CEPEJ representatives and experts, as well as efforts by the local partners representing the justice and judicial system of Azerbaijan, have overall ensured the successful  implementation of the project.

We believe that the experience, knowledge and capacities gained as a result of the implemented cooperation will be applied in the practice of other courts too, and will serve the development of the judicial system of our country. 

Vladimir Cebotari, Minister of Justice of the Republic of Moldova noticed that “I am grateful to the project “Strengthening the efficiency of justice and support to lawyer’s profession in the Republic of Moldova”, funded as part of the European Union and the Council of Europe Partnership for Good Governance in the Eastern Partnership Countries, for its prolific activity in our country.

Over the past two years, representatives from 6 pilot courts of Moldova, as well as my colleagues at the Ministry of Justice, from the Agency for Court Administration, have been trained to organise surveys in view of measuring court users’ satisfaction with services they received after entering in contact with courts. Officials were also trained and enabled to produce annual court activity reports based on the analysis of statistical performance indicators in line with the CEPEJ recommendations.

We have carefully studied the court coaching reports and the Guide addressed to the judiciary of Moldova. They refer to implementation of the priority criteria of the revised edition of the SATURN Guidelines for judicial time management and the Checklist for promoting the quality of justice and the courts, and were developed by the CEPEJ experts on the basis of the evaluation of the pilot courts. I am decided to encourage further implementation of their suggestions.

Developing the mechanism for performance analysis and management in each individual court of justice, as well as at the national level, is indispensable for optimisation of judicial timeframes. The lessons learned and the good practices developed by the pilot courts will help us to improve the quality of the services provided by courts, increase and maintain citizens' confidence in the administration of justice.

Based on some findings and proposals from the CEPEJ experts, we have also developed a list of recommendations for improving the judicial information system, which was included in the ministry's priorities.”

Dorel Musteaţă, Judge, Member of the Superior Council of Magistracy of the Republic of Moldova, is certain that “Undoubtedly, the project implemented by CEPEJ had a positive impact on the work of the judiciary of the Republic of Moldova. Judges and representatives of the pilot courts’ secretariats were familiarised with the main CEPEJ instruments for improving time management and the quality of justice, as well as on how to collect and analyse judicial statistics. The activities of the project also focused on the implementation of satisfaction surveys, as measures to assess and improve the quality of judicial services.

I would like to point out that the project was appreciated by the members of the Superior Council of Magistracy, which supported a follow up in the entire judiciary in Moldova.”

Ion Guzun, CEPEJ national expert, lawyer, member of the NGO „Legal Resources Centre from Moldova (LRCM)” told: "Implementation of the CEPEJ tools in the Republic of Moldova is a great step forward in court administration, court statistics and evaluation of the court services by different users. These tools can be used for a more professional evaluation of the current court administrators or of judges’ professional achievements. I do believe that the pilot courts, the Superior Council of Magistracy and the Ministry of Justice have understood the importance and convenience of implementing such useful mechanisms, including for the evaluation of the court’s and/or judge’s workload.

For me personally, it was a great opportunity to be part of the project’s expert team. I was honoured to implement activities, while learning both from excellent CEPEJ experts and from dedicated court staff. Having had such a good cooperation with the court staff, I hope the CEPEJ tools will be continuously implemented, especially through periodical reporting of the statistical data and court performance indicators to the public, by all the courts and the central judicial administration."

Representatives of civil society also welcomed the new Code of Ethics, Mr Ion Guzun, Legal Adviser at the Legal Resources Centre from Moldova, believes “the Code of Ethics brings clarity for both for lawyers and the general public about the actions of a lawyer while carrying out his/her duties, as well as his/her off-duty conduct. The Code of Ethics must also answer the question what is allowed and what actions are not worthy of a lawyer. It is a constitution for lawyers, so to speak”. At the same time, Ion Guzun argues that “as the Republic of Moldova is part of the European and international family, our lawyers participate in activities regarding the protection of rights of individuals and companies abroad and vice versa, it is imminent that ethical standards would be connected to the best European and international practices”. “Moreover, social norms and relationships evolve and we cannot fall behind. This should be done continuously and the legal profession shall be pro-active. Obviously, we do not adjust rules because others have done it. Any amendment or regulation that would protect lawyers and, indirectly, individuals and companies, is to be encouraged,” states the representative of the Legal Resources Centre from Moldova.

The project raised the knowledge of judges and assistants to judges in human rights law, was supporting the Consultative Council of the Supreme Court and strengthened the cooperation of lower court judges to the higher instances to unify the court practice. A survey on Application of the Standards of the European Convention on Human Rights by the Common Courts of Georgia provided a clear picture on usage of the European Court of Human Rights case law in the national judgments.