Progress towards a European area of justice digitalised

Abstract

The use of technological tools in cross-border processes can contribute to improving access to justice, simplifying procedures, reducing costs, and accelerating judicial timelines. To achieve this, it is necessary to have technological solutions adapted to the cross-border environment and a regulatory framework that supports their use through a legal design that ensures increased efficiency and the protection of fundamental rights. The European Union has adopted several regulatory instruments aimed at facilitating access to justice in the European cross-border environment through digital means. The system created, is not based on the creation of uniform legislation but rather on the establishment of a minimum common framework and the coordination of judicial systems in different countries through the application of their national regulations. This study reviews the progress made by the European legislator in implementing the use of technical tools in cross-border proceedings, with the aim of assessing how they respond to the promise of facilitating access to justice, identifying their strengths, weaknesses, and their alignment with the legal framework regulating fundamental rights. It also includes proposals for improvement.