Meer documenten
Questions and Answers on the EU Justice Scoreboard 2025 highlights strengthened justice systems in the EU
EU Justice Scoreboard 2025 highlights strengthened justice systems in the EU
Today, the European Commission has published the 2025 EU Justice Scoreboard, an annual overview providing comparative data on the efficiency, quality and independence of the justice systems among EU Member States, as well as other indicators relevant for the Single Market. This is the thirteenth edition, which provides an overview of how the situation in Member States's justice systems has evolved.
What is the EU Justice Scoreboard?
The EU Justice Scoreboard is a comparative information tool, which aims to assist the EU and Member States in improving the effectiveness of national justice systems. It does this by providing data on the efficiency, quality and independence of the justice systems, as well as on other indicators. This year the Scoreboard contains, for the first time, data relevant for the Single Market in all Member States. It is one of several instruments in the EU's Rule of Law toolbox, used by the Commission to monitor justice reforms undertaken by Member States.
The Scoreboard contributes to identifying good practices and potential shortcomings. It shows trends in the functioning of national justice systems over time. It does not present an overall single ranking, but an overview of how all the justice systems function. This is based on various indicators that are of common interest to all Member States.
The Scoreboard does not promote any particular type of justice system and puts all Member States on an equal footing. Whatever the model of the national justice system - or the legal tradition in which it is anchored - timeliness, independence, affordability, and accessibility are some of the essential features of an effective justice system.
Why are national justice systems important for the EU?
Effective justice systems are essential for the application and enforcement of EU law and for upholding the rule of law and the other values upon which the EU is founded and which are common to the Member States. Effective justice systems ensure that individuals and businesses can fully enjoy their rights, strengthen mutual trust, and help build a business- and investment-friendly environment in the Single Market. Effective justice systems are also crucial for the implementation of EU law, because national courts act as EU courts when applying EU law.
Are the Scoreboard and the Rule of Law Report linked?
The Justice Scoreboard and the Rule of Law Report complement each other: The EU Justice Scoreboard is part of the EU's rule of law toolbox and one of the sources of information for the Rule of Law Report. The Scoreboard provides comparative data on the functioning of national justice systems, while the Report presents a qualitative assessment of significant developments related to the rule of law in all 27 Member States. Following the 2024 Political Guidelines of President von der Leyen, the 2025 edition of the EU Justice Scoreboard has been developed further. It now presents new data in the area of the Single Market, highlighting the essential role of efficient and independent justice systems in fostering a fair and competitive market environment. The Scoreboard thus provides additional comparative information that will feed into the 2025 Rule of Law Report.
What are the main innovations in the thirteenth edition of the EU Justice Scoreboard?
The 2025 edition of the Scoreboard contains 12 new or remodelled figures that enhance our understanding of:
- access to justice for persons at risk of discrimination, including older people;
- access to justice for victims of crimes;
- access to justice for victims of violence against women/domestic violence;
- judicial mechanisms in place to ensure the implementation of administrative court judgments;
- withdrawal and recusal of judges;
- appointment and dismissal of heads of prosecution offices; public procurement review bodies; national competition authorities; and the supreme audit institutions;
- perceived independence among companies of the public procurement review bodies and national competition authorities.
What are the main findings of the 2025 EU Justice Scoreboard?
- Digitalisation of justice: Compared to the previous year, digitalisation of justice further improved, with now nine Member States compared to six in 2024, allowing for the evidence to be submitted in digital format in all civil, commercial, administrative, and criminal cases. In 26 Member States, there is the possibility to initiate proceedings or file a claim online in civil and commercial cases.
- Efficiency of justice – general data: For litigious civil and commercial cases, the length of first instance court proceedings continued to decrease or remained stable in 13 Member States. Compared to the previous year, the Justice Scoreboard shows a decrease in the length of proceedings for eight Member States, in each category, in some cases to below 2020 levels. In administrative cases, the length of proceedings since 2012 has decreased or remained stable in about 15 Member States.
- Efficiency in specific areas – criminal cases: The Scoreboard again presents data on the length of judicial proceedings dealing with bribery cases. It shows differences in the average length of proceedings before first-instance criminal courts. In 2023, proceedings were concluded within a year in eight Member States, while in the remaining seven where data are available, proceedings can last up to two years.
- Independent market authorities: Member States have different authorities involved in the appointment and dismissal of the public procurement review bodies and of the national competition authorities, such as the executive or independent authorities, including courts. A Eurobarometer survey among companies shows that in 15 Member States, more than half of respondents consider that the independence of the first instance public review body is very or fairly good. In 16 Member States, more than half of the respondents consider that the independence of their national competition authorities is very or fairly good.
- Implementation of judgments: In 19 Member States, there is at least one mechanism in place to ensure the implementation of administrative court judgments. In 17 of these Member States, there is a fine for the responsible officials for non-compliance with the judgments of administrative courts. In 12 Member States, a binding order could be issued to perform or refrain from an administrative act.
- Access to justice: In 26 Member States, there are specific arrangements in place for access to justice for persons at risk of discrimination. In 24 Member States, the court buildings and court rooms are easily physically accessible to older people. In 19 Member States, steps were taken to raise awareness among those at risk of discrimination on where to obtain legal information and assistance.
- Victims of violence against women/domestic violence: Legal remedies for victims of violence against women/domestic violence exist in all Member States.
How can justice systems have an impact on the economy?
Effective justice systems that uphold the rule of law have a positive economic impact. Where judicial systems guarantee the enforcement of rights and fight corruption effectively, creditors are more likely to lend, businesses are dissuaded from opportunistic behaviour, transaction costs are reduced, and innovative businesses are more likely to invest.
The EU Justice Scoreboard helps monitor progress in implementing justice reforms under national recovery and resilience plans across Member States.
How does the 2025 EU Justice Scoreboard examine the effectiveness of justice?
The Scoreboard uses indicators that examine the three main features of an effective justice system: efficiency, quality and independence.
Efficiency
The indicators related to the efficiency of proceedings include: caseload, estimated length of judicial proceedings (disposition time), clearance rate (the ratio of the number of resolved cases over the number of incoming cases) and the number of pending cases. The Scoreboard also presents the average length of proceedings in specific fields where EU law is involved.
Quality
Easy access to justice, adequate resources, effective assessment tools and the use of information and communication technologies are key factors that contribute to the quality of justice systems. The Scoreboard uses various indicators to cover digitalisation, such as access to online information and to court judgments, digital-ready procedural rules, use of digital technology by courts and prosecution services, secure electronic tools for communication or online access to case files.
Independence
The Scoreboard examines the perception of judicial independence, both among the general public and in companies. Additionally, it presents key indicators relevant to evaluating the structure and effectiveness of justice systems in protecting judicial independence. The 2025 edition, in particular, includes indicators related to the processes of withdrawal and recusal of judges, as well as the roles of various authorities in the appointment and dismissal of heads of prosecution offices.
Other indicators relevant for the single market
This year the Scoreboard also presents several new figures that aim to show the link between the rule of law and a well-functioning Single Market. For the first time, the Scoreboard presents figures on the perception of the independence of public procurement review bodies and national competition authorities among companies. Moreover, this edition contains information about the appointment and dismissal of public procurement review bodies and national competition authorities, as well as of supreme audit institutions.
What is the methodology of the EU Justice Scoreboard?
The Scoreboard uses various sources of information. Large parts of the quantitative data are provided by the Council of Europe's European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice (CEPEJ), with which the Commission has concluded a contract to carry out a specific annual study. These data range from 2014 to 2023 and have been provided by Member States according to CEPEJ's methodology. The study also provides detailed comments and country-specific factsheets, which give more contextual information and should be considered alongside the figures.
Other sources of data are the group of contact persons on national justice systems, National contact points for anti-corruption, the European Network of Councils for the Judiciary (ENCJ), the Network of the Presidents of the Supreme Judicial Courts of the EU, the Association of the Councils of State and Supreme Administrative Jurisdictions of the EU (ACA-Europe), the European Competition Network, the Communications Committee, the European Observatory on infringements of intellectual property rights, the Expert Group on Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism, Eurostat, the Council of Bar and Law Societies in Europe, the European Judicial Training Network (EJTN), the NADAL Network of Prosecutors, the Contact Committee on Supreme Audit Institutions, and the Network of First Instance Review Bodies on Public Procurement.
Why are some data missing?
Although data are still missing for certain Member States, the data gap continues to decrease. The remaining difficulties in gathering data are often due to insufficient statistical capacity or the fact that the national categories for which data is collected do not exactly correspond to the ones used for the Scoreboard. The Commission will continue to encourage Member States to reduce this data gap further.
How does the EU Justice Scoreboard feed into the European Semester and how is it related to the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF)?
By comparing information on Member States' justice systems, the Scoreboard makes it easier both to identify best practices and shortcomings, and to keep track of challenges and progress made. In the context of the European Semester, country-specific assessments are carried out through a bilateral dialogue with the national authorities and the stakeholders concerned. Where the shortcomings identified have macroeconomic significance, the European Semester analysis may lead to the Commission proposing to the Council to adopt country-specific recommendations to improve the national justice systems in individual Member States.
The RRF has made available more than €650 billion in loans and non-repayable financial support, of which each Member State would need to allocate a minimum of 20% to the digital transition and a minimum of 37% to measures contributing to climate objectives. So far, the reforms and investments proposed by Member States have exceeded these targets, with an estimated digital expenditure at 26% and climate expenditure at about 42%. The RRF offers an opportunity to address country-specific recommendations related to national justice systems, and to accelerate national efforts to complete the digital transformation of justice systems.
How does the European Commission's Justice Programme support the effectiveness of justice systems?
With a total budget of around €305 million for 2021-2027, the Justice Programme supports the development of a just Europe based on judicial independence, quality and cooperation. In 2024, around €41.2 million were provided to fund projects and other activities to fulfil this objective:
- €11.1 million were provided for projects promoting judicial cooperation in civil and criminal matters. They contribute to the effective and coherent application and enforcement of EU instruments and support Member States' connection to the European Criminal Records Information System-Third Country Nationals (ECRIS-TCN);
- €15.9 million were provided for training of legal professionals on EU civil, criminal and fundamental rights law, legal systems of the Member States and the rule of law;
- €14.2 million were provided to promote access to justice (including e-Justice); protect victims' rights and the rights of persons suspected or accused of crime; and support the development and use of digital tools and the maintenance and extension of the e-Justice portal (jointly with the Digital Europe programme).
More information
The 2025 EU Justice Scoreboard
The EU Justice Scoreboard factsheet
The 2025 EU Justice Scoreboard quantitative
2025 Rule of Law Report - targeted stakeholder consultation