By Jean-Raymond Lemaire
On 23 April 2025, the EEEI responded to the European Commission’s call for projects ( JUST-2025-JCOO) for action grants to promote judicial cooperation in civil and criminal matters. We present below the e-REX project, submitted in response to this call for tenders.
e-REX project
Against a backdrop of increasing judicial cooperation within the European Union, the e-REX (European Register of Judicial Experts) project aims to create a European digital register of judicial experts, interconnected with the national systems of the Member States.
An identified need: harmonising forensic expertise in Europe
Judicial expertise plays a central role in civil and criminal proceedings. However, practices vary considerably from one Member State to another: selection criteria, status, remuneration, classification of areas of expertise, etc. This heterogeneity undermines mutual trust between judicial systems and complicates the appointment of experts in cross-border cases. This heterogeneity undermines mutual trust between judicial systems and complicates the appointment of experts in cross-border cases.
The e-REX project is based on the work of the Find an Expert I & II projects, which enabled an inventory of national practices in Europe to be drawn up and a prototype for a European register to be developed.
A digital platform serving the justice system and citizens
The aim of the project is to roll out a first operational version of the register, incorporating data from 5 or 6 pilot countries, including France, Belgium, Italy, Luxembourg, Romania, and Poland.
This platform will enable :
- judges to seek competent experts available throughout the EU;
- experts to offer their services beyond their national borders;
- lawyers, citizens, and businesses to access reliable information on experts
- facilitate secure exchanges via an integrated interface (e-CODEX),
- facilitate the use of legal experts in cross-border disputes.
The register will also include statistics on the breakdown of assignments by gender, in order to promote equal access to expert functions.
Collaborative European governance:
The consortium includes two financial partners, the Belgian CNEJ and EuroExpert. A steering committee will be responsible for coordinating the project, while working groups will define the functional specifications, deployment methods and prospects for future development.
A structuring project for the future
- This tool will enable judicial experts from EU Member States to work throughout Europe.
- For each task assigned by a judge to an expert, the interface will automatically launch an e-mail dialogue between the judge and the pre-selected experts, making the choice of a competent and available expert faster and more reliable.
- The register will serve as a benchmark for secure digital exchanges at European level between legal experts, judges, and lawyers.
The database will contribute to gender equality in judicial expertise, both in terms of the number of experts registered and the number of assignments given.
The working method
Participants will come from several countries and disciplines: associations of experts, judicial institutions and Ministries of Justice in the pilot countries of the Find an Expert 2 project will be contacted and involved in the project, as well as universities. Technical development will be based on an agile methodology, with particular attention paid to data security and digital accessibility. The development of functionalities will be managed by representatives of the main stakeholders, including judges, lawyers and legal experts, as well as representatives of the Ministries of Justice. One of the objectives will be to define the functionalities of the next version, which should incorporate AI tools.
Setting up Working Groups with European diversity
The working groups will be set up to reflect European diversity, ensuring a balanced representation of the different Member States and their legal systems. This approach is designed to enrich discussions and promote solutions tailored to the varied realities of the participating countries.
The proposed working method is derived from previous EEEI European projects, in particular EGLE and Find an Expert, which used a collaborative approach involving multidisciplinary and transnational working groups that met several times to formulate concrete recommendations.
- Thematic working groups with geographical representation: made up of magistrates, lawyers, experts, academics and institutional representatives from various EU countries, with regular meetings to compare practices, harmonise approaches and validate proposals.
- Participants will be selected based on their expertise in various fields such as law, technology and project management, to ensure a holistic approach.
- Particular attention will be paid to the inclusion of women and other under-represented groups in the forensic field, with the aim of promoting gender equality and diversity.
This diverse composition will make it possible to draw on the varied experience and knowledge of the participants, thereby enhancing the effectiveness and relevance of the project’s results. This method has made it possible to produce concrete and adaptable tools, such as the European Guide to Good Practice in Civil Forensic Expertise, which serves as a reference for current projects such as e-REX.
We expect a response by October 2025.
Français