The European Union of Judicial Officers was received on 5th of March 2026 at the headquarters of the European Commission in the Berlaymont building in Brussels for a working meeting with the European Commissioner for Justice and the Rule of Law, Michael McGrath.
The UEHJ delegation was composed of Marc Schmitz, President of the UEHJ, Oscar Jans, Secretary, Robert Cicuto, Treasurer, and Patrick Gielen, Secretary General of the International Union of Judicial Officers.
Presentation of the UEHJ and its objectives
During the meeting, President Marc Schmitz presented the UEHJ and its mission as the representative organization of judicial officers and enforcement professionals within the European Union. He emphasized the essential role played by judicial officers in ensuring the effective enforcement of court decisions, which is a fundamental component of the rule of law and of citizens’ trust in judicial systems across Europe.
He also underlined the willingness of the UEHJ to actively contribute to European policies relating to civil judicial cooperation, the modernization and digitalization of enforcement procedures, and the professional training of legal practitioners.
The European proportionality test directive
Oscar Jans highlighted the issues related to the implementation of the European directive introducing a proportionality test before the adoption of new regulations affecting professions.
This directive requires Member States to assess whether national rules governing access to, or the exercise of, a regulated profession are justified by legitimate public interest objectives and remain proportionate to those objectives.
For regulated legal professions, including judicial officers, this issue is particularly important. In several Member States, the organization of the profession is based on mechanisms designed to ensure independence, high professional standards and effective access to justice for citizens. The UEHJ therefore stressed the need to ensure that the application of the proportionality principle fully considers the specific role played by judicial officers in guaranteeing the effective enforcement of judicial decisions and in safeguarding the rule of law.
Digitalization of justice and the development of e-CODEX
Robert Cicuto focused on the ongoing digital transformation of justice in Europe, particularly through the development of e-CODEX (e-Justice Communication via Online Data Exchange), the European infrastructure designed to enable secure electronic communication in cross-border judicial proceedings.
He highlighted the implementation of e-CODEX in several European countries as part of the development of the JUDEX platform, which aims to facilitate secure exchanges of information between judicial authorities and enforcement professionals. These initiatives contribute to building a more efficient and interconnected European judicial area and improve the effectiveness of cross-border enforcement of court decisions.
European judicial training and institutional cooperation
Patrick Gielen underlined the strategic importance of professional training for judicial officers within the European Union. He presented the involvement of the UEHJ in several training projects co-founded by the European Commission and implemented in cooperation with recognized training institutions such as the European Institute of Public Administration and the Academy of European Law.
These programs bring together judges, lawyers and judicial officers from numerous Member States and aim to strengthen judicial cooperation and mutual understanding between legal professions. They also help disseminate European civil justice instruments and support legal professionals in adapting to the digital transformation of justice systems.
It was emphasized that these initiatives fully align with the European Judicial Training Strategy for the period 2025–2030, published by the European Commission in November 2025, which aims to strengthen the skills of legal practitioners across the European Union and to promote a genuine European judicial culture.
Presentation of publications to the Commissioner
At the end of the meeting, President Marc Schmitz presented several publications to Commissioner Michael McGrath highlighting the work and expertise of the International Union of Judicial Officers.
These included the Global Code of Enforcement, a publication retracing the history of the UIHJ, and a work dedicated to European case law on the enforcement of judicial decisions, analyzing the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights and the Court of Justice of the European Union in the field of enforcement.
The meeting provided an opportunity to strengthen the dialogue between the UEHJ and the European Commission on key issues such as the digitalization of justice, the regulation of legal professions and European judicial training, with the shared objective of contributing to a more efficient, modern and accessible European area of justice.
