“A symbolic event, a date to recall that justice is first of all a service at the disposal of the citizen to settle disputes and uphold their own rights”: that – in the words of EU Commissioner for Freedom, Security and Justice Franco Frattini – is the sense of European Day of Social Justice, now in its fourth year, which was celebrated on 25 October also with the objective of “contributing to the awareness of the need for a system of justice common to all European citizens”. To this end, the European Commission and the Council of Europe have jointly organized, and for the second consecutive year, the Crystal Scales of Justice Prize to “honour innovative practices that contribute to the quality of civil justice”. From the 18 candidate projects from 9 countries the jury composed of eleven eminent European jurists chose in particular 3 initiatives, two of them Austrian (Court of Linz, which won first prize, and Ministry of Justice) and one Spanish (Court of the Region of Murcia). Special commendations were given to the Courts of Turin (Italy), Manchester (UK) and Créteil (France).
