‘Access to justice’ is among the most important notions in modern legal vocabulary. It is a central topic in the famous book series edited by the late Mauro Cappelletti, the case law of the European Court of Human Rights, the land-slide reforms of Lord Woolf in England and the reform of most other modern justice systems. From all these sources one general line of thought emerges: every individual deserves legal protection that is not only quick, but also effective and affordable.
In a time when an ever growing demand for justice meets economic crisis and shrinking resources, innovative approaches to access to justice are urgently needed. The present volume discusses a variety of such approaches from across Europe (and beyond), all united by their significance in contemporary trends in legal and judicial reform. They are presented in the four sections of this book:
1. Access to Justice and Legal Aid;
2. Accessibility by Improvement of Quality;
3. Access to Justice Through Mediation and Arbitration; and
4. Accessing Justice Through Efficient Enforcement.
Outcome-Related Fee Agreements in Europe and Hong Kong (p. 11)
Vulnerable Groups at the Legal Services Market (p. 31)
Access to Justice: Legal Aid Systems (p. 45)
Quality Assessment of Courts and the Judiciary: From Judicial Quality to Court Excellence (p. 55)
Efficiency in the Relationship between the Judge and the Parties: A Perspective on the Future Swiss Code of Civil Procedure (p. 75)
Efficiency: the Holy Grail of Belgian Justice? Civil Procedure in Belgium (1806-2008) (p. 89)
Access to the Judiciary under the New Italian Law on the Judicial System: Critical Remarks (p. 119)
Mediation and the Concepts of Accountability, Accessibility and Efficiency (p. 147)
Mandatory Mediation in Divorce Disputes: An Obsolete Legal Practice. Critical Overview of the Croatian Divorce System (p. 173)
International Commercial Arbitration. What do Parties and Arbitrators owe to Each Other? (p. 187)
Reforming Judgment Enforcement in Bulgaria (p. 211)
The Recovery of Debts Secured by Mortgage or Pledge in Slovenia (p. 221)
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The ‘Ius Commune Europaeum’ series focuses on the common foundations of the legal systems of the Member States of the European Union. It includes horizontal comparative legal studies as well as studies on the effect of EU law, treaties and international regulation within the national legal systems. All substantive fields of law are covered.
The series is published under the auspices of METRO, the Institute for Transnational Legal Research at the Maastricht University.
Guidelines for the submission of a manuscript or proposal can be found here.
Editorial Board
Prof. Dr. J. Smits (chair - Tilburg University, the Netherlands)
Prof. Dr. M. Faure (Maastricht University and Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands)
Prof. Dr. E. Vos (Maastricht University, the Netherlands).
