Civil justice reform

The objective of the reform is mainly focused on reducing the length of civil proceedings by identifying a wide range of actions to reduce the number of incoming cases in Courts, by simplifying existing procedures, by reducing the backlogs and by increasing the productivity of Courts.

The reduction of number of incoming cases in Courts shall be achieved through strengthening mediation, alternative dispute resolution and arbitration and reviewing the current system of quantification and recoverability of legal fees.

The simplification shall be pursued by strengthening ‘filtering procedures’ at the appeal level, extending the cases where a single judge is competent to adjudicate, securing the actual implementation of binding timeframes for procedures.

Higher productivity of Courts shall be achieved through a monitoring system and incentives to accomplish standard performance across courts.

The reform also aims to reduce the backlog in civil Courts through the temporary hiring and targeted actions, including incentive schemes to reduce the number of pending cases.