TRIIAL 2 (TRust, Independence, Impartiality and Accountability of Legal professionals under the EU Charter - part 2)

The project is implemented with the financial support of the European Union's Justice Program (2021–2027), (project no. 101089737).

TRIIAL 2 – TRust, Independence, Impartiality and Accountability of Legal professionals under the EU Charter – part 2

I. Project description

TRIIAL 2 is a project funded by the European Union (European Commission's Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers). It is coordinated by the European University Institute in Florence (EUI) and involves 11 partners.

The TRIIAL 2 project provides training activities and tools for judges, lawyers, prosecutors, and other legal professionals in areas that are of primary importance for the application of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights (the Charter): trust, independence, impartiality, and accountability. Its main objective is to deepen and broaden knowledge of the Charter's potential to ensure and improve fundamental rights standards, ultimately benefiting the rule of law in Member States.

The TRIIAL 2 project runs from February 1, 2023, to July 31, 2025.

II. Activities

Within the framework of the TRIIAL 2 project, the partners will conduct research and analysis of case law in the field of the project. Based on this, they will prepare educational materials and organize 12 transnational workshops for judges, lawyers, prosecutors, and other legal professionals. The topics of the workshops are as follows:

1. Implementing the rule of law through judicial interaction techniques

2. Rule of law requirements in judicial self-administration: the role of judicial councils and court presidents

3. Mutual trust, judicial independence, and judicial cooperation in the field of international protection

4. Freedom of expression and association of judges - cross-border judicial dialogue

5. Mutual trust and independence of prosecutors in the context of the European arrest warrant

6. Freedom of expression and association of prosecutors – cross-border judicial dialogue

7. Do national higher courts guarantee fundamental rights? Techniques used by parties to proceedings to implement the EU legal order in the field of the rule of law and fundamental rights

8. Disciplinary proceedings and judicial ethics

9. The role of lawyers in strengthening the independence of the judiciary, mutual trust, and the rule of law - strategies of parties to proceedings before judicial and quasi-judicial bodies

10. Fundamental rights and the use of the preliminary ruling procedure

11. Judicial dialogue and freedom of expression of lawyers

12. Rule of law and predictive justice

The TRIIAL 2 project is a continuation of the completed TRIIAL project. Its aim is to help legal professionals address the challenges of the rule of law. The project addresses the priority of providing training support for judicial professionals to build public trust in the judicial profession.

The case law of national courts, the European Court of Human Rights, and the Court of Justice of the European Union in the field of the project is available in the Centre for Judicial Cooperation's collection of decisions.

III. Project objectives

The project pursues the following specific objectives:

1) To raise awareness of the impact of inter-judicial cooperation techniques on the implementation of the legal framework for the protection of fundamental rights, in particular the Charter;

2) To improve the ability of legal professionals to safeguard and implement the rule of law in their daily work through the application of the EU's fundamental legal framework;

3) Improve cooperation between legal professionals from different countries and sectors with a view to strengthening the application of the EU legal framework for the protection of fundamental rights and the rule of law;

4) Build trust, legitimacy, dialogue, and accountability in the judiciary.

IV. Key results of the project

• Update of the collection of (national) case law on the application of the Charter, established in the context of previous projects led by the EUI
• 12 transnational workshops for judicial professionals and 12 corresponding sets of training materials;
• 12 thematic handbooks

V. Project applicant: EUI

Gabor Halmai (project leader), Elisabetta Airaghi (project manager), Federica Casarosa (research associate), Madalina Moraru (research associate)

VI. Project partners

Slovenian partner: University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Law

Saša Zagorc, Mohor Fajdiga

Other partners: Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE), Institute for Law and Society (INPRIS), Italian School for the Magistracy (SSM), Lisbon Centre for Research in Public Law (CIDP), Masaryk University, National Association of the Romanian Bars (UNBR), University of Florence (UNIFI), University of Gdansk (UG), University of Pompeu Fabra (UPF).