The UIHJ, represented by Marc Schmitz, President, and Patrick Gielen, Secretary General, and the UEHJ, represented by Robert Cicuto, Treasurer, took part on 21 October 2026 in Bratislava in the international conference of the Slovak Chamber of Judicial Officers (Slovenská komora exekútorov). Organised by the Presidium and the Education Committee of the Chamber, the event was entitled “The Judicial Officer in the Digital Age: New Technologies, Artificial Intelligence and Electronic Auctions”. It also served as professional training for Slovak judicial officers.
After the opening by JUDr. Ing. Miroslav Paller, President of the Slovak Chamber, Marc Schmitz spoke on “The Importance of Innovating in the Field of Enforcement: Towards a More Efficient and Accessible Justice System”. His talk focused on the digitisation of files, automation, standardisation, centralised databases and cross-border cooperation. He stressed that these tools must remain under human oversight, as the judicial officer is the bridge between justice and citizens.
Mgr. Pavla Fučíková, former President of the Chamber of Executors of the Czech Republic, then shared the Czech experience of electronic auctions in enforcement proceedings, and their prospects.
Patrick Gielen devoted his presentation to “The AI Act in the Enforcement Office: What Really Changes in Your Daily Work”. He explained that, under Regulation (EU) 2024/1689, judicial officers are in most cases deployers of AI systems, not providers. He then walked through four doors through which AI has already entered enforcement offices: ordinary daily work, case management, enforcement itself, and chatbots. Drawing on a judgment of the Court of Appeal of Antwerp of 4 December 2025, which sanctioned written submissions produced with a chatbot and based on non-existent case law, he stressed that verification is now a professional duty.
Robert Cicuto addressed “The Digital Transformation of Enforcement Procedures”. He presented secure electronic exchanges, including the European e-CODEX system, digital case management, automation, electronic signatures and artificial intelligence. He weighed the gains in time, organisation and traceability against four risks to be managed: cybersecurity, personal data protection, the digital divide and system reliability.
The programme continued with the presentation of the new Commentary on the Enforcement Code and its authors, followed by a closing discussion on the future of the profession in the face of new technologies.
The UIHJ and the UEHJ warmly thank JUDr. Ing. Miroslav Paller, President of the Slovak Chamber of Judicial Officers, for his invitation and for the excellent organisation of this conference. They also extend their sincere thanks to JUDr. Peter Stodola, PhD., for his valuable support.
