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Call for proposals for action grants to promote judicial cooperation in civil and criminal matters

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Call key data

Call for proposals for action grants to promote judicial cooperation in civil and criminal matters

Funding Program	Justice Programme
Call number	JUST-2023-JCOO
deadlines	Opening 08.12.2022	Deadline 20.04.2023 17:00
Funding rate	90%
Call budget	€ 4,500,000.00
Estimated EU contribution per project	minimum € 75,000.00
Link to the call	ec.europa.eu
Link to the submission	ec.europa.eu

Call content

short description	Funding under this call will support national and transnational projects that promote judicial cooperation in civil and criminal matters. While there are a number of EU instruments in force which provide a legal framework for judicial cooperation among Member States, projects funded by the EU budget can improve their application, identify issues, facilitate contacts and in general improve the cooperation between the relevant stakeholders.
Call objectives	The call for proposals' objectives are to facilitate and support judicial cooperation in civil and criminal matters, and promote the rule of law, independence and impartiality of the judiciary, including by supporting the efforts to improve the effectiveness of national justice systems, and the effective enforcement of decisions. There are four priorities for 2023: Judicial cooperation in civil matters Judicial cooperation in criminal matters Support to the Member States for the setting up and strengthening of national networks active in the area of judicial cooperation in civil and criminal matters Support to the Member States for the linking and exchange of their biometric data with the ECRIS-TCN central system
Expected effects and impacts	For priorities 1 and 2: Increased capacity of national practitioners, courts and authorities to address issues related to judicial cooperation in civil and criminal matters and to the application of the EU instruments on civil and civil procedural law, as well as on criminal and criminal procedural law; Strengthened cooperation and exchange of information between competent national authorities (including courts) in relation to judicial cooperation in civil and criminal matters, including taking into account the relevant case-law of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU); Alignment of the Member States’ administrative practices related to the relevant legislation; The legal framework and regulations linked to judicial cooperation in civil and criminal matters are in line with EU acquis and relevant case-law of the CJEU; Improved cross-border cooperation between judicial authorities responsible for judicial cooperation in civil, commercial and criminal matters, and improved cooperation and coordination between these authorities and other responsible agencies and institutions across the EU; Prosecutors, judges and other stakeholders have better specialised knowledge and experience on the legislation and administrative practices related to judicial cooperation in civil and criminal matters; Acceleration of proceedings in relation to judicial cooperation in civil and criminal matters; less breaches of time-limits; Increased awareness of policy makers related to judicial cooperation in civil and criminal matters; In particular for priority 2, improved situation of persons subject to measures in the field of judicial cooperation in criminal matters, enhancement of their social rehabilitation and re-integrations, reduced risks of violation of their fundamental rights. For priority 3: Better implementation of EU judicial cooperation instruments in civil and criminal matters; Increased capacity of national practitioners, courts and authorities to address issues related to judicial cooperation in civil and criminal matters and to the application of the EU instruments on civil and civil procedural law, as well as on criminal and criminal procedural law; Prosecutors, judges and other stakeholders have better specialised knowledge and experience on the legislation and administrative practices related to judicial cooperation in civil and criminal matters; Strengthened cooperation and exchange of information between competent national authorities (including courts) in relation to judicial cooperation in civil and criminal matters, including taking into account the relevant case-law of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU); More efficient and better functioning national networks in order to ensure better implementation and case-handling at the national level; Increased input of national networks to the Network’s activities to strenghten the Network as a whole. For priority 4: Improved exchange of fingerprints and facial images between national IT systems and the ECRIS-TCN central system; Enhanced capacity of national IT systems dealing with fingerprints and facial images; Improved processes at national level allowing for the appropriate linking and exchange of fingerprints and facial images with the ECRIS-TCN central system. read more
Expected results	Facilitate and support judicial cooperation in civil and criminal matters, and promote the rule of law, independence and impartiality of the judiciary, including by supporting the efforts to improve the effectiveness of national justice systems, and the effective enforcement of decisions.

Regions / countries for funding	EU Member States, Overseas Countries and Territories (OCT) Albania (Shqipëria), Kosovo (Kosova/Kosovë / Косово), North Macedonia (Северна Македонија), Serbia (Srbija/Сpбија), Ukraine (Україна)
eligible entities	Education and training institution, International organization, Non-Profit Organisation (NPO) / Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), Other, Private institution, incl. private company (private for profit), Public Body (national, regional and local; incl. EGTCs), Research Institution incl. University, Small and medium-sized enterprise (SME)
Mandatory partnership	No
Project Partnership	To be eligible for funding, applicants (beneficiaries and affiliated entities) must: be legal entities (public or private bodies) be established in one of the eligible countries EU Member States (including overseas countries and territories (OCTs), excluding Denmark) non-EU countries: − countries associated to the Justice Programme or countries which are in ongoing negotiations for an association agreement and where the agreement enters into force before grant signature (list of participating countries) For priorities 1 and 2: Proposals must be submitted by a consortium complying with the following conditions: The applications must involve minimum 2 entities (beneficiaries, not affiliated entities) from 2 different eligible countries. The consortium must include at least one public body, private non-profit organisation or international organisation as beneficiary (not as affiliated entity). For priority 3 and 4 proposals by single applicants are also allowed. In addition, under the priorities 1 and 2: Organisations which are profit-oriented must submit applications in partnership with public entities or private non-profit-oriented organisations; Projects must be transnational and involve organisations from at least two participating countries. In addition, under the priority 3: In the area of civil and commercial matters, the application must be submitted by the officially appointed members of EJN in civil and commercial matters, or by the national authorities, courts and professional associations representing the officially appointed members of EJN in civil and commercial matters; In the area of criminal matters, the application must be submitted by national authorities, courts, prosecution services and professional associations representing them; Only one application per participating country will be accepted. Projects do not need to have a transnational aspect. In addition, under the priority 4, the applicants must: be the national authorities responsible for the systems linking national criminal records databases, as well as fingerprint databases, to the ECRIS- TCN central system. Only one application per participating country will be accepted. Projects do not need to have a transnational aspect. Specific cases: Natural persons are NOT eligible (with the exception of selfemployed persons, i.e., sole traders, where the company does not have legal personality separate from that of the natural person). International organisations are eligible under the priorities 1 and 2. The rules on eligible countries do not apply to them. Entities which do not have legal personality under their national law may exceptionally participate, provided that their representatives have the capacity to undertake legal obligations on their behalf, and offer guarantees for the protection of the EU financial interests equivalent to that offered by legal persons. EU bodies (with the exception of the European Commission Joint Research Centre) can NOT be part of the consortium. Entities composed of members (like for instance networks) may participate as ‘sole beneficiaries’ or ‘beneficiaries without legal personality’. Please note that if the action will be implemented by the members, they should also participate (either as beneficiaries or as affiliated entities, otherwise their costs will NOT be eligible). Beneficiaries from countries with ongoing negotiations may participate in the call and can sign grants if the negotiations are concluded before grant signature (with retroactive effect, if provided in the agreement). Special rules apply for certain entities (e.g. entities subject to EU restrictive measures under Article 29 of the Treaty on the European Union (TEU) and Article 215 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU (TFEU) and entities covered by Commission Guidelines No 2013/C 205/05). Such entities are not eligible to participate in any capacity, including as beneficiaries, affiliated entities, associated partners, subcontractors or recipients of financial support to third parties (if any).
other eligibility criteria	Whereas several measures and initiatives are listed, it is not requested to include all of them in a single project. Projects with a strong focus are very much valued. All activities should, both at design and implementation stage, incorporate a gender equality perspective. Thus, applicants are expected to conduct and include in their proposal a gender analysis, which maps the potential different impact of the project and its activities on women and men as well as girls and boys in all their diversity. Thereby, unintended negative effects of the intervention on either gender should be forestalled (do no-harm approach). To this end, applicants are encouraged to consult the key questions listed on the EIGE website when conducting their gender analysis. A gender-sensitive approach should be taken to the identification of best practices, data collection, including sex-disaggregated statistics, and information dissemination. All communication activities should forestall discrimination, victimisation and stereotyping of women and men. Mutual learning, analytical and training activities should incorporate a gender equality perspective, and promote gender balanced participation in trainings. This topic will cover the following activities: facilitating cooperation between competent authorities and agencies, legal practitioners and/or service providers (including multi-disciplinary networks at international, national, regional or local levels); mutual learning, identifying and exchange of best practices, development of working methods which may be transferable to other participating countries; analytical activities, including data collection, statistics, surveys, research, etc.; exchange and provision of information and development of information tools; capacity building for professionals; dissemination and awareness raising activities; training activities can also be funded under this call, as long as they are of ancillary nature and not the main purpose of the project. For priority 4, project activities would in principle include analytical, conceptual, design and elaboration work, IT software development, quality assurance and related auxiliary measures necessary for the establishment of new IT systems, as well as the expansion and adaptation of existing national solutions towards addressing the objectives of priority 4. Activities relating to project management, communication, promotion and dissemination are also eligible for funding. Activities under this topic, especially where they relate to IT software development (priority 1), will take into account existing solutions such as results from the e-CODEX project, CEF building blocks and ISA2 Core vocabularies. Proposals with a practical focus are deemed more impactful than mere research proposals. Similarly, proposals that consider in their design and implementation a gender perspective, are deemed more impactful.

Additional information

Topics	Administration & Governance, Institutional Capacity & Cooperation, Education & Training, Children & Youth, Media, Justice, Safety & Security
Relevance for EU Macro-Region	EUSAIR - EU Strategy for the Adriatic and Ionian Region, EUSALP - EU Strategy for the Alpine Space, EUSBSR - EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region, EUSDR - EU Strategy for the Danube Region
UN Sustainable Development Goals (UN-SDGs)
project duration	12-24 months
Additional Information	All proposals must be submitted electronically via the Funders & Tenders Portal electronic submission system (accessible via the topic page in the Search Funding & Tenders section). Paper submissions are NOT possible. Proposals must be complete and contain all parts and mandatory annexes and supporting documents, e.g. plan for the exploitation and dissemination of the results including communication activities, etc. The application form will have three parts: Application Form Part A — contains administrative information about the participants (future coordinator, beneficiaries and affiliated entities) and the summarised budget for the project (to be filled in directly online) Application Form Part B — contains the technical description of the project (to be downloaded from the Portal Submission System, completed and then assembled and re-uploaded) Part C (to be filled in directly online) containing additional project data, including mandatory indicators Annexes and supporting documents will be directly available in the submission system and must be uploaded as PDF files (or other formats allowed by the system). Mandatory annexes and supporting documents (templates available to be downloaded from the Portal Submission System, completed, assembled and re-uploaded): detailed budget table (template available in the Portal Submission System – to be re-uploaded filled out in the format xlsx); CVs (standard) of core project team (or, where the key personnel is not yet known, a job profile description) activity report of last year of the coordinator (unless it is a public body) list of previous projects (key projects for the last 4 years) (template available in Part B) for participants with activities involving children: their child protection policy covering the four areas described in the Keeping Children Safe Child Safeguarding Standards The limit for a full application (Part B) is 45 pages. For priority 1 (civil matters), priority 3 (EJN civil and criminal) and priority 4 (ECRIS): the EU grant applied for cannot be lower than € 75,000.00. There is no upper limit. For priority 2 (criminal matters): Project budgets have to range between € 75,000.00 and € 350,000.00 per project. The grant will be a lump sum grant.
Call documents	Justice work programme 2023-2024 (869kB) Call Document JUST-2023-JCOO (504kB)

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