Highlights

An Italian travelling in Germany needs a lawyer. A French entrepreneur wants to search the Hungarian land register. An Estonian judge has a question about the Spanish court system. At the moment, it may take weeks to get the information. The European e-Justice Portal that was launched on 16 July sets up a single point of access making the search easier and quicker.

Ten million citizens in the EU are engaged in cross-border judicial procedures each year. With the new electronic one-stop-shop the answers to their questions – in 22 languages – will be only a click away. The portal helps citizens, businesses, lawyers and judges with legal questions involving another member state. "Through this portal, we lay the foundations of a more efficient and accessible justice to the European citizens", said Stefaan De Clerck, Belgium's Minister of Justice, at the launching ceremony.

The first release with more than 12,000 pages provides links to laws and practices in all member states. You may find information on legal aid, judicial training and videoconferencing in a user-friendly language and have online access to legal databases, case law, insolvency, land and will registers. The portal also gives access to legal glossaries. Fact sheets on defendants' rights and victims' rights will be available in 2011, including, for example, information on how road traffic offences are dealt with in different countries.

Other areas to be included in the further development of the project are the European payment order and the small claims procedure (both to recover unpaid debt in another member state) as well as mediation. In time, even criminal records should be accessible.

More information:
European e-Justice Portal
Video presentation of the e-Justice Portal