Objective Civil justice is under pressure. The proclaimed crisis in civil justice results from the ineffectiveness of procedures in terms of the long duration, high costs, and complexity. These undermine access to justice as guaranteed by the Human Rights Convention and the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. It is illustrative in this regard that 26% of the violation judgments concern undue delay of procedure. A well-functioning civil justice system is pivotal for enforcing rights for consumers and businesses and protecting fundamental rights. Civil justice is also increasingly valued for its contribution to economic growth as seen from the World Bank reports and the EU Justice Agenda for 2020.Key issues in the current efforts to bridge the access to justice gap at the EU and national level are digitalisation of procedures, privatisation of justice (ADR), an increased possibility of self-representation, and specialisation of courts and procedures. These trends are potentially ground-breaking in contributing to easier and cheaper access to courts and private forms of adjudication. However, a one-sided focus on procedural efficiency or competitive advantage may have repercussions for procedural justice and the inclusive quality of the civil justice system. The question is how these digitalisation, privatisation, self-representation, and specialisation trends influence access to justice in the selected Member States, and what the repercussions are for the emerging EU civil justice system.Using a unique combination of legal-normative, comparative law, and qualitative research, the project will (1) develop an urgently needed integrated approach to digitalisation, privatisation, self-representation, and specialisation; (2) scrutinise these against the background of strengthening access to justice as a fundamental right and as the pillar of civil justice in the EU; and (3) build on the foundation of EU civil justice, securing effective and equal access to justice for EU citizens. Fields of science social scienceslawhuman rights Programme(s) H2020-EU.1.1. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC) Main Programme Topic(s) ERC-2016-COG - ERC Consolidator Grant Call for proposal ERC-2016-COG See other projects for this call Funding Scheme ERC-COG - Consolidator Grant Coordinator ERASMUS UNIVERSITEIT ROTTERDAM Net EU contribution € 2 000 000,00 Address Burgemeester oudlaan 50 3062 PA Rotterdam Netherlands See on map Region West-Nederland Zuid-Holland Groot-Rijnmond Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Other funding € 0,00 Beneficiaries (1) Sort alphabetically Sort by Net EU contribution Expand all Collapse all ERASMUS UNIVERSITEIT ROTTERDAM Netherlands Net EU contribution € 2 000 000,00 Address Burgemeester oudlaan 50 3062 PA Rotterdam See on map Region West-Nederland Zuid-Holland Groot-Rijnmond Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Other funding € 0,00