Press Release: The Due Report delivered to President Prodi

Ole Due, former President of the Court of Justice, gave President Romano Prodi on 4th February 2000 the report of the Reflexion Group on the future of the judicial system of the Communities.

This report was produced by the Group chaired by Mr Ole Due. Members of the Group were: Mr Yves Galmot, rapporteur, former Judge at the Court of Justice, Mr José Luis Da Cruz Vilaça, former Advocate General of the Court of Justice and former President of the Court of First Instance, Mr Ulrich Everling, former Judge at the Court of Justice, Lord Slynn of Hadley, former Advocate General and former Judge at the Cour of Justice, Mr Aurelio Pappalardo, Advocate, and Ms Rosario Silva de Lapuerta, Abogado del Estado.

Since the number of cases pending before the Courts and the time taken to give judgment are increasing, the report suggests a number of reforms relating to the powers and the procedures of the Courts in order to deal with this problem, which can only get worse as the number of cases continues to rise. These statistics are worrying, but they also demonstrate the success of Community law and the confidence shown by citizens in the Community Courts.

President Prodi stressed the quality of the work carried out by the Group. It will assist the Commission in its further consideration of this important matter. He asked Mr Michel Barnier, Commissioner with special responsibility for the Inter-Governmental Conference, to prepare, with the assistance of the Commission's Legal Service, initiatives that the Commission may take in the Intergovernmental Conference which will open shortly.

http://europa.eu.int/en/comm/sj/homesjen.htm http://europa.eu.int/en/comm/sj/homesjen.htm

http://europa.eu.int/en/comm/sj/rapdue.pdf http://europa.eu.int/en/comm/sj/rapdue.pdf

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