Conference Report: Challenge Accepted! Exploring Pathways to Civil Justice in Europe

Access to civil justice is of paramount importance for enforcing rights of citizens. Key issues in the current efforts to improve access to justice at the EU and national levels regard the digitisation of justice and the use of artificial intelligence in dispute resolution, the privatisation of justice and the multiplication of alternative dispute resolution schemes, the increased possibility of self-representation, and the ever-increasing specialisation of court systems. Each of these trends greatly influences the emerging EU civil justice system but it also raises a number of questions and doubts. On 19 and 20 November 2018, policymakers, practitioners, academics and civil society representatives from all over Europe will meet in Rotterdam to exchange and reflect on these innovative pathways to civil Justice in a two day conference. Together, they will aim at defining a sustainable framework for a 21st century EU civil justice system.