Three experimental courts of appeal are embarking, with the Court of Cassation, on the experimentation of an innovative system, carrying a vision of the future of the office of judges and the handling of emerging, complex or serial disputes.
The “Cour de Cassation 2030” report noted that the very large volume of cases handled by the judicial courts makes it difficult to identify the major developments that drive the flow of litigation and to systematically identify cases involving subjects of major public interest.
The “Court of Cassation 2030” Report therefore recommended the creation of an Observatory of Judicial Disputes, a mechanism promoting a global and coordinated approach to the handling of disputes, whether they are emerging, serial or involving new and complex issues.
This recommendation caught the attention of the first president, Christophe Soulard, as its implementation is likely, on the one hand, to guarantee litigants greater efficiency in justice and better predictability of the law, and on the other hand, to provide a response to the need for support felt by the judicial courts.
Thus, the first president instructed the president Sandrine Zientara, director of the documentation, studies and report service, after numerous consultations that made it possible to define a collective and pragmatic project, to implement this observatory starting with a one-year experiment. During this first sentence, the Court of Cassation and three courts of appeal (Nancy, Rennes and Versailles) will work together to develop a reliable space for the exchange and pooling of information, with the support of the Ministry of Justice.
In practice, the OLJ will aim to:
- identify targeted disputes through a feedback mechanism;
- support the handling of litigation by identifying similar cases on a court-to-court basis, reporting on their progress, while dedicating in-depth research and analysis to them;
- Restore to professionals, in a secure manner, the legal and procedural information that has been collected.
The assessment to be made at the end of this experiment will make it possible to reflect on the conditions for the deployment of the OLJ throughout the national territory.
All courts will have the opportunity to take part in this dynamic, from the dedicated pages of the Court’s intranet site, foreshadowing a future specific platform.
In addition, the partners in law and justice are closely involved in this project at the level of each of the experimental courts of appeal and their representatives at national level are members of the Observatory’s Steering Committee.
The assessment to be made at the end of this experiment will make it possible to reflect on the conditions for the deployment of the OLJ throughout the national territory.
Original French source https://www.courdecassation.fr/publications/lettre-de-la-cour/ndeg2-novembre-2023/actualites#strongobservatoire-des-litiges-judiciairesstrong-lancement-de-lexprimentation-155712