European civil procedure has emerged as a vivid area of research, training and policy making. The European Civil Justice Centre (ECJC) established at Erasmus School of Law of Erasmus University Rotterdam is a European centre to facilitate the collaboration of scholars and other stakeholders across Europe and beyond in conducting research and related activities with a view of enhancing access to justice. It consolidates the extensive work that has been done under the leadership of Xandra Kramer at Erasmus school of law within international research projects, among others funded by the European Research Council (ERC-CoG ‘Building EU Civil Justice’) and the Dutch Research Council, NWO (including ‘Affordable Access to Justice’ and ‘Securing Quality in Cross-Border Enforcement’). The Centre builds on collaborations with scholars around the globe working on European civil justice, and benefits in particular from support by the KU Leuven. It is spearheaded by Xandra Kramer (Erasmus School of Law, founder and director), Stefaan Voet (KU Leuven, board member), Anna Nylund (University of Bergen, board member) and Jos Hoevenaars (Erasmus School of Law, co-founder, managing director), with the support of Adriani Dori (guest research Erasmus School of Law, senior fellow Centre).
Fostering access to justice
At the heart of European civil justice, and procedural law more broadly, is the aim to secure access to justice for citizens. Access to justice is crucial to sustain the rule of law and democratic values, and essential in support of economic activities by ensuring legal certainty and effective dispute resolution. It ties in with Goal 16 of the UN Sustainable Development Goals aiming at promoting peaceful and inclusive societies, providing access to justice for all and building effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels. European civil procedure has emerged and established as a distinct subdiscipline at the crossroads of civil procedure, European law and private international law. It has been boosted by extensive EU policy and legislative developments over the past twenty-five years, covering a wide array of topics of (international) civil procedure, geared towards improving access to justice and judicial cooperation across countries. Civil justice plays a fundamental role in fostering the EU internal market, ensuring legal certainty for businesses and consumers, and supporting economic growth. Efficient and well-functioning civil justice systems not only benefit access to justice for individuals and collective actions, but also reduce transaction costs, enhance investor confidence, and facilitate cross-border trade and investment. Moreover, they serve as a cornerstone of EU governance, ensuring the uniform enforcement of EU rights and contributing to the overall stability and integration of European societies.
Our mission
The European Civil Justice Centre promotes research and relating training activities in support of the further development of European civil justice, with the aim of strengthening tailor-made access to justice for businesses and citizens. Key areas of interest include, but is not limited to, research activities on (1) collective actions and public interest litigation, promoting legal mobilization with the aim to enforce rights for the public good and/or (disadvantaged) groups; (2) legal aid and assistance, and third-party litigation funding; (3) digitalisation of civil justice, including AI; (4) ADR and ODR; and (5) anti-SLAPPS (strategic litigation against public participation). It is dedicated to capacity-building for joint research projects, including and policy-oriented research, strengthening societal outreach and impact, and creating opportunities for early career researchers.