The UEHJ participates since 1st of January 2024 in collaboration with the EUBF (European Bailiff Foundation) in the JODES (Judicial Officers Data Exchange System) project, co-funded by the European Commission project to help countries to implement the e-CODEX into their national systems.
Regulation (EU) 2020/1784 deals with improving the transmission of judicial and extrajudicial documents in civil or commercial matters between Member States of the European Union.
The Regulation is expected to come into effect in May 2025. Judicial officers in Europe, who play a crucial role in the service of documents, are identified as key actors of this Regulation. Under the new Regulation, Judicial officers will have to use a decentralized computer system like e-CODEX for the service of documents.
The European Commission has been working with Member States and stakeholders including Judicial officers to set up an e-EDES portal with a secure communication channel (e-CODEX) for the digital exchange of electronic evidence requests and responses between EU judicial authorities under the European Investigation
This portal has been chosen by the European Commission to be adapted as implementation tool for Regulations 2020/1784 and 2020/1783. The main objective will be to assist and support the judicial officers and to converge towards a uniform solution to facilitate the use of the e-EDES portal adapted to Regulation 2020/1784 and the e-CODEX infrastructure.
This project is very important for two reasons. First, all judicial officers must implement Regulation 2020/1784; second, law practitioners – and especially judicial officers – will have to the meet the requirement to use a system like e-CODEX for cross-border service from May 2025.
The 12 participating countries are France, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Greece, Bulgaria, Hungary, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.
By providing assistance to judicial officers, the UEHJ as coordinator and the other partners hope to ensure a smoother transition towards the use of e-CODEX and contribute to a more efficient and effective judicial cooperation between the Member States of the European Union.
The partners in this project are:
– Aristotelio Panepistimio Thessalonikis (AUTH), which is the largest Higher Education Institution in Greece and one of the largest Universities in Southeastern Europe.
– The National Research Council (CNR), which is Italy’s primary public organization tasked with conducting, promoting, and enhancing research across various sectors for the scientific, technological, economic, and social development of the country.
– The Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH), which is the world organization for cross-border cooperation in civil and commercial matters.
