Minister Malenica at Justice Leaders’ Forum “Accountability and Innovation in a Time of Change”

Minister of Justice and Public Administration Ivan Malenica participated in the international Justice Leaders’ Forum in Riga, organised by the Latvian Ministry of Justice on 14 July.

It is an international forum which brought together over 35 judicial officials, officials of the European Commission and international organisations.

The forum included a ministerial panel “Innovation and Strategic Leadership for an Achievable Justice Sector in 2022: a Leaders’ Perspective”, attended by Minister Malenica alongside the representatives of Latvia, Malta and the Court of Justice of the European Union.

The panelists concluded that the coronavirus pandemic had triggered a number of changes and improvements to justice systems across Europe, in particular as regards the modernisation of the system and a better response to the needs of the fourth industrial revolution.

Referring to Croatia, Minister Malenica pointed out that the pandemic had definitely encouraged a more intensive use of IT in the judiciary, especially the introduction of new tools such as e-Communication.

He stressed that, under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, Croatia was going to invest over 730 million Kuna in modernisation of the judicial system, increasing the efficiency of the judiciary and fight against corruption.

“The new generations of justice leaders will work on changes that strengthen the independence of the judiciary, uphold the rule of law and protect fundamental human rights. Innovation in the judiciary will be necessary to improve the efficiency of the justice system and to further modernise procedures. As societies, we will also have to change the awareness of the necessity of change and adjustments of all actors in the justice system. Education plays a key role in this," highlighted Minister Malenica.

Apart from the panel on innovation and strategic leadership, the Riga Justice Leaders’ Forum included panel discussions on critical factors for successful change in the judiciary and on war crimes investigations and sanctions mechanisms towards restoring the rule of law, related to the war in Ukraine.

 

News