ELI’s President Prof Dr Pascal Pichonnaz intervened as a panellist at a roundtable on the ‘Role of the Judge’. The event, which took place at the Cour de cassation in Paris on Thursday, 21 October 2021, was the first in a series addressing the L’Office du Juge. In it, the role of judges as part of a system that seeks to defend the rule of law, a central aspect of Europe’s culture and empathy for fundamental values, was emphasised. Chaired by Advocate General of the Criminal Chamber of the Cour de cassation, Sandrine Zientara-Logeay, the panel was composed of Lukas Rass-Masson, a Professor at Toulouse 1 Capitole University, Patrice Spinosi, an attorney at the Conseil d’Etat and Cour de cassation, as well as ELI President Pichonnaz. All emphasised the need for a human-centered approach in shaping and guaranteeing the rule of law for justice to be delivered. The event can be viewed here.

In his intervention, President Pichonnaz presented aspects of the ELI Principles for the Covid-19 Pandemic and highlighted the ELI-Mount Scopus European Standards of Judicial Independence as an important instrument for the fostering of the rule of law, a priority for ELI which has embarked on five projects under that pillar of its projects portfolio (see here).

President Pichonnaz also informed those present about the Law and Governance for the Digital Age limb of ELI’s project portfolio, and focused in particular on the AI and Public Administration project which seeks to promote the use of impact assessments and encourage public participation in the case of the deployment of AI and, more generally, algorithms by public administrators, with a view to ensuing transparency, accountability and non-discrimination, among other goals.

The French Cour de cassation is one of 15 Supreme Courts across Europe and beyond that count as ELI’s members.