The European Commission July 16 published a web portal containing information in 22 languages on the legal systems of the 27 European Union member countries. The Commission said that the eJustice portal would help individuals and businesses in the EU obtain information about legal affairs in different countries, and would be a tool to assist them in specific circumstances, such as cross-border legal disputes.

The portal is aimed at:

Private individuals, who can get answers on how the 27 member states’ legal systems function. They can get quick answers when dealing with real-life events such as divorce, death, litigation or even moving house. They can find a legal practitioner in another country, learn how to avoid costly court cases through mediation, where to bring a lawsuit, which member state’s law applies in cases and whether they are eligible for legal aid.

Legal professionals, who can gain access to legal databases, contact colleagues through judicial networks and find information on judicial training. They also find information on arranging cross-border videoconferences.

Companies, which will find links to insolvency and property registers and information about the laws that apply and about cross-border proceedings.

Stefaan De Clerck, Belgium’s Ministers of Justice, said that through the portal, the EU was laying "the foundations of a more efficient and accessible justice to the European citizen". Belgium presently holds the rotating presidency of the EU Council.

The Commission said that the eJustice portal would be progressively added to, with fact sheets on defendants’ rights and victims’ rights in all EU Member States to be available in early 2011. These will include, for example, information on how road traffic offences are dealt with in different countries.

Future versions of the portal will also, for example, allow an individual to make a cross-border small claim or payment order online. The Commission said that businesses will also benefit from lower costs thanks to simpler, streamlined online legal procedures once insolvency registers, business registers and land registers are accessible via the portal. Courts would be able to deal with cross-border requests online and communicate with the claimants and defendants in a particular case as well as with courts in other member states.

By 2013, there is planned to be a tool allowing citizens to make specific searches for lawyers. For example, the portal will allow a citizen to look for a German-speaking lawyer who specialises in family or divorce law in Hungary.

Progress is also expected to be made to tackle EU-wide interoperability issues for e-Signature, e-Identity and e-Payment. Solutions in these areas are required for several of the e-Justice projects’ full implementation, such as for the European Payment Order or the European Small Claims procedure.

The eJustice portal is available in the EU’s 22 official languages. It is available at https://e-justice.europa.eu/