570 participants from nearly 50 countries and several international institutions and organisations at the 25th International Congress of Judicial Officers in Rio de Janeiro, organised by the UIHJ and the FENASSOJAF, from 7 to 10 May 2024 on the theme of “The Judicial Officer: The Trusted Third Party”.
The international organisations and institutions present or represented were the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH), the European Commission, the Organisation for the Harmonisation of Business Law in Africa (OHADA) and its Higher Regional School of Magistracy (ERSUMA), The Academy of European Law (ERA), the European Expertise & Expert Institute (EEEI), the African Union of Judicial Officers (UAHJ), and the International Institute for Justice Excellence (IIJE). Also present were Leo Netten and Françoise Andrieux, honorary Presidents of the UIHJ.
The delegates received a copy of the work of the congress, written by 80 authors, as well as a copy of the 3rd Edition of the Global Code of Enforcement, including a new section on ethics and professional standards of the profession of judicial officer and enforcement agent, both published on this occasion.
During the opening ceremony, Marc Schmitz, President of the UIHJ, Mariana Lira, President of FENASSOJAF, Daniel Bucar, Attorney General of Rio de Janeiro, Ricardo Rodrigues Cardozo, President of the State Court of Rio de Janeiro, and Mario França, Brazilian Minister of Entrepreneurship, Micro and Small Enterprises, took the floor successively to welcome the delegates. They insisted on the importance of the profession of judicial officer for the rule of law, which makes it possible to strengthen institutions and legal security, and on the relevance of the theme of the congress in a changing world and to respond to the challenges of the digitalisation of justice.
Mohamed Bougrine, judicial officer (Algeria), member of the UIHJ Innovation Team, and Mathieu Chardon, Secretary-General of the UIHJ, presented the report on the many activities of the UIHJ since the 24th International Congress of Judicial Officers of Dubai in November 2021.
After the presentation of the work of the congress by its General Rapporteur, Patrick Gielen, Secretary of the Board of the UIHJ, Edvaldo Lima, judicial officer (Brazil), and Neemias Freire, Vice-President of the FENASSOJAF, discussed the status and functioning of the profession of judicial officer in Brazil.
The scientific work of the congress was structured around three workshops, divided into Ted Talks, round tables, discussions with the public, and conclusions. The first workshop addressed the theme of “Strengthening Professional Standards as a Condition of Trust”. The Ted Talk on the professional, ethical, and disciplinary standards of the profession of judicial officer, was proposed by José Cardoso, Solicitador (Portugal), member of the UIHJ Innovation Team. The round table on “Professional Standards, Guarantors of Legal Excellence”, was moderated by Guna Berlande, Director of the Council of Judicial Officers of Latvia. The speakers at this round table were Chantal Bikay, judicial officer (Cameroon), member of the National Chamber of Judicial Officers of Cameroon, Sue Collins (USA), Deputy-Secretary of the Board of the UIHJ, Adrian Stoica, Dean of the Faculty of law and administrative sciences of the Ovidius University of Constanta (Romania), member of the Scientific Council of the UIHJ, and Jos Uitdehaag (the Netherlands), First Vice-President of the UIHJ.
The round table on “The necessary (r)evolution of initial and continuing training” was moderated by Françoise Andrieux, honorary President of the UIHJ and member of its Scientific Council. Daniel Faiao, judicial officer (Brazil), Pierre Iglesias, commissioner of justice (France), member of the Board of the National Chamber of Commissioners of Justice of France, Osair Victor de Oliveira Junior, federal judicial officer (Brazil), and Jean-Philippe Rageade, Director of the Academy of European Law (ERA), spoke successively.
The discussion with the public at the end of these two round tables was led by David Walker, Messenger-at-Arms (Scotland), Deputy Treasurer of the UIHJ. Natalie Fricero, Professor Emeritus of Universities (France) and member of the Scientific Council of the UIHJ, provided the conclusions of the first workshop.
The theme of Workshop 2 was “The Consequences of Trust: Increased Activities”. The Ted Talk on “The judicial Officer, Guarantor of Legal Security”, was delivered by Karolien Dockers, judicial officer (Belgium). The first round table, on “International Cooperation, a Necessary Pillar of Trust” was moderated by Jérôme Okemba Ngabondo, President of the National Chamber of Judicial Officers of Congo. Christophe Bernasconi, Secretary-General of the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH), Adama Dia, President of the National Order of Judicial Officers of Senegal, Luis Ignacio Ortega Alcubierre (Spain), vice-president of the UIHJ, Vanessa Regis Costa, judicial officer (Brazil), and Paulo Teixeira, President of the Order of Solicitadores and Enforcement Agents of Portugal, successively took the floor.
The second round table, on “Multidisciplinarity at the Heart of Modernisation” was moderated by Flavia Pires, judicial officer (Brazil). The speakers of this round table were Ana Arabuli (Georgia), responsible for international relations at the Department of International Relations and Project Management of the National Bureau of Enforcement of Georgia, Claudette Pessoa, judicial officer (Brazil), Vidak Latkovic, President of the Executive Board of the Chamber of Public Enforcement Agents of Montenegro, and Pauline Varo, co-founder of PREPA Cdj & FORMATION Cdj (France), a training organisation specialising in the profession of commissioner of justice.
Then Guillaume Payan, Professor at the University of Toulon (France), Director of the Legal Unit of the UIHJ and member of its Scientific Council, addressed the evolution of European and international jurisprudence with regard to professional standards. The discussions that followed were moderated by Gary Crowe, process server (USA), Administrator of the National Association of Professional Process Servers (NAPPS).
On the occasion of the congress, the UIHJ launched a competition intended for law students. Marc Schmitz and Patrick Gielen presented the winner of this competition, Marius Gabriel Păun, student at the University of Constanta (Romania), who then gave an account of his work on digitalisation of the enforcement of court decisions. The conclusions of the 2nd workshop were proposed by Frédérique Ferrand, Professor at the Jean Moulin Lyon III University (France), member of the Scientific Council of the UIHJ.
The third workshop addressed the theme of “The Evolution of Trust: The Judicial Officer, a Trusted Third Party in a Digital World”. Its introductory Ted Talk on “Digitalisation, New Momentum for the Legal Professions” was delivered by Vanessa de Marchi, judicial officer (Brazil). The first round table, on “Digitalisation, a New Opportunity for the Judicial Officer” was moderated by Patrick Plate, judicial officer (the Netherlands), and was discussed by Stéphanie Flacher, compliance, ethics & risks, co-founder of Logion (video message), Dovilè Satkauskienè, Director of the National Chamber of Judicial officers of Lithuania, Secretary-General of the European Union of Judicial Officers (UEHJ), Ako Luc Sowah, President of the National Chamber of Judicial Officers of Togo, and Andreas Stein, Head of Unit in charge of the Civil justice at the Directorate-General Justice and Consumers of the European Commission (video message).
The discussions that followed were moderated by Carlos Calvo, judicial officer (Luxembourg), Secretary of the Executive Committee of the UEHJ. The conclusions of this round table were proposed by Paula Meira Lourenço, Professor at the Faculty of Law of the University of Lisbon (Portugal), and member of the Scientific Council of the UIHJ.
The final round table, whose theme was “The Judicial Officer, The Trusted Third Party ”, was moderated by Patrick Gielen and had as participants Christophe Bernasconi, Secretary-General of the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH) , Malone Cunha, Director of international affairs of the FENASSOJAF, member of the Board of the UIHJ, and member of the UIHJ Innovation Team, Karel Dogué, Director General of the Ohada Regional Higher School of Magistracy (Ersuma), Jean-Philippe Rageade, Director of the Academy of European Law (ERA), and Marc Schmitz.
The 3rd Edition of the Global Code of Enforcement, including the ethical and professional standards of the profession of judicial officer and enforcement agent, was presented by Françoise Andrieux, Nathalie Fricero, and Jos Uitdehaag.
With the summary report, expertly delivered by Patrick Gielen, the last day of the congress was devoted to its statutory activities. The General Assembly of the UIHJ thus proceeded with the ratification of the five new member organisations of the UIHJ:
- South Africa: South African Board for Sheriffs
- Brazil: AFOJEBRA ( Associação Federal dos Oficiais de Justiça do Brasil ), and FESOJUS (Federaçao das Entidades Sindicais de Oficiais de Justiça do Brasil)
- Central African Republic: National Chamber of Judicial officers of the Central African Republic
- Colombia: Asonal Judicial SI
Then the organising city of the 26th International Congress of Judicial Officers in 2027 was voted by the General Assembly of the UIHJ: Lisbon (Portugal).
Finally, the Permanent Council of the UIHJ proceeded with the election of the new board of the UIHJ for the 2024/2027 term. Were elected:
- President: Marc Schmitz (Belgium)
- First Vice-President: Jos Uitdehaag (the Netherlands)
- Vice-presidents: Jean-Didier Bidié (Congo) and Jean-Pierre Herbette (France)
- Treasurer: David Walker (Scotland)
- Secretary: Patrick Gielen (Belgium)
- Deputy Treasurer: Carlos Calvo (Luxemburg)
- Deputy Secretary: Sue Collins (USA)
- Members: Mohamed Reda Bougrine (Algeria), Malone Cunha (Brazil), Paulo Teixeira (Portugal)
The members of the Executive Committee of the European Union of Judicial Officers (UEHJ) were also elected during its General Assembly which followed for the 2024-2027 term. Were elected:
- President: Marc Schmitz (Belgium)
- Vice-president: Ilias Tsipos (Greece)
- Treasurer: Robert Cicuto (France)
- Secretary: Oscar Jans (Netherlands)
- Members: Doreen Donner (Germany), Małgorzata Pędziszczak (Poland), Paulo Duarte Pinto (Portugal).
During the inaugural speech of his 3rd term at the head of the UIHJ, Marc Schmitz, President of the UIHJ, thanked the Permanent Council of the UIHJ for having renewed its trust in him for the third time. He announced his intention to continue the work of the UIHJ as well as the development of its activities, particularly in America and Asia. He praised the perfect organisation of the congress, the very high quality of its scientific work, the result of the exceptional work carried out for three years by FENASSOJAF and its President, Mariana Liria, its General Rapporteur, Patrick Gielen, together with all the speakers of the congress, the authors of the congress work and the 3rd Edition of the Global Code of Enforcement, the UIHJ Innovation Team, the UIHJ Scientific Council and the UIHJ Secretariat, whom he warmly thanked, as well as the international institutions and organisations present and represented. He praised the exceptional welcome given to the congress participants by the FENASSOJAF and expressed his warmest thanks to the 570 participants of the congress for having made the trip to Rio de Janeiro and for their support towards the UIHJ, inviting them to already to participate in the 26th International Congress of Judicial Officers which will be held in May 2027 in Lisbon!
During the Congress, a Laudatio was made for José Carlos Resende, former President of the Order of Solicitadores and Enforcement Agents of Portugal and Vice-President of the UEHJ, and for François Taillefer, President of the Chamber of Judicial Officers of Quebec, who both passed away very recently. A minute of silence was respected for them and for all the judicial officers who passed away since the Congress of Dubai in 2021.
The 25th International Congress of Judicial Officers ended with a traditional and sumptuous gala evening organised by FENASSOJAF and the UIHJ in the Marina of Rio de Janeiro, copiously punctuated, as you can imagine, by the captivating sound of Brazilian samba!
Recommendations of the 25th International Congress of Judicial Officers in Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro, 10 May 2024
Considering that judicial officers and enforcement agents play a fundamental role in the application of the rule of law, guaranteeing, by their skills, status and activities, the maintenance of legal certainty,
Considering the crucial importance of strictly defined initial and continuing training for these professionals in order to ensure the continuity and effectiveness of their function in society,
Considering the need for judicial officers and enforcement agents to respect high ethical and professional standards, in accordance with the principles set out in the World Code of Enforcement,
Considering the opportunity for these professionals to develop multidisciplinary activities to improve the speed and efficiency of legal processes and contribute to the desaturation of the courts,
Considering the key role of digitisation in optimising their activities and the need for judicial officers and enforcement agents to be at the forefront of the development and use of digital tools,
Considering the importance of strengthening the position of judicial officers and enforcement agents as universal trusted third parties for legal security, particularly in the field of evidence,
The 25th international congress of judicial officers issues the following recommendations:
1 – Training
The initial training of judicial officers and enforcement agents should be strictly defined to cover all aspects of their activities and responsibilities. Continuing training for judicial officers and enforcement agents, essential to the proper implementation and sustainability of the profession, should be compulsory and supervised, to promote the development of the skills exercised by judicial officers and enforcement agents.
2 – Ethical and Professional standards
Judicial officers and enforcement agents should comply with clearly defined professional standards such as those contained in the Global Code of Enforcement.
3 – Multidisciplinary activities
Judicial officers and enforcement agents should be encouraged to exercise and develop secondary activities compatible with their function, particularly those likely to safeguard and secure recognition of parties’ rights and aimed at expediting the judicial process or reducing the workload of the courts.
4 – Digitalisation
Judicial officers and enforcement agents must be essential actors in the development and use of the digital tools necessary for the optimal implementation of their activities.
5 – Trusted Third Party
Judicial officers and enforcement agents must be encouraged to position themselves as universal trusted third parties for legal security, particularly in the field of evidence.
6 – Global Code of Enforcement
Judicial officers, enforcement agents and the International Union of Judicial Officers must ensure the dissemination of the Global Code of Enforcement to any appropriate entity and include it in their training resources.
