Side-event: Emerging Trends and Challenges in Administrative Justice: A Judicial Peer Exchange

About

Stronger Democratic Institutions in Eastern Partnership Countries is an ODIHR project supported and funded by the European Union, which has the objective to support democratic institutions and processes in the EU’s Eastern Neighbourhood region to be more inclusive, accountable, resilient, transparent, human rights and rule of law-compliant. Within this framework, ODIHR works with national stakeholders to strengthen the rule of law and to support the independent and effective functioning of justice systems, including administrative justice.

The side event Emerging Trends and Challenges in Administrative Justice in the Eastern Partnership Region: A Judicial Peer Exchange brings together administrative judges from Armenia, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine, members of the Association of European Administrative Judges (AEAJ), and ODIHR representatives to discuss practical aspects of administrative adjudication and the exercise of judicial independence in disputes involving public authorities. The event presents the findings of the ODIHR Baseline Studies on Administrative Justice in Armenia, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine and examines how institutional safeguards, procedural mechanisms, and judicial reasoning contribute to coherent, effective, and rights-based administrative justice.

Why this matters

OSCE participating States have committed to ensuring an independent judiciary as a fundamental element of the rule of law and a precondition for the effective protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms. Administrative courts play a particular role in this regard, as they adjudicate disputes between individuals and public authorities and exercise judicial oversight over the exercise of public power. Their effective functioning depends on robust institutional safeguards, sound procedural mechanisms, and the personal independence of judges, particularly in cases that carry significant political or societal weight.

Effective administrative justice is intrinsically linked to the broader institutional environment in which courts operate. Judicial governance arrangements, disciplinary frameworks, case-allocation systems, and standards of judicial review all influence whether constitutional and legislative guarantees of independence translate into practice. ODIHR baseline studies conducted across the four Eastern Partnership countries indicate that, while formal guarantees of independence are generally in place, administrative adjudication faces recurrent practical challenges, including in proceedings concerning electoral disputes, freedoms of peaceful assembly and association, and judicial review of decisions of public authorities. Comparative exchange among judges from different jurisdictions can help identify practical approaches to addressing these challenges and contribute to strengthening administrative justice as a safeguard for the rule of law and the effective protection of fundamental rights

Our role

The project supports the implementation of ODIHR’s core mandate of assisting participating States to fulfil their human dimension commitments in relation to democratic institutions and the rule of law. In this context, ODIHR works with judiciaries, judicial governance bodies, and partner institutions across the Eastern Partnership region to strengthen the institutional and procedural conditions necessary for the independent functioning of administrative justice. The Lisbon side event, organized in cooperation with the Association of European Administrative Judges, provides a platform for structured peer exchange among administrative judges from across the OSCE area, with a view to informing future ODIHR engagement on administrative justice and judicial independence.