Call for Proposals: 2010 EU Criminal Justice Action Grants: Interconnection of Criminal Records, & e-Justice

[NOTE: In addition to the call for proposals described on this post, readers may be interested in the call for proposals for 2010 e-Justice Action Grants, designated JLS/2010/JPEN/AG/EJ.]

A call for proposals — with submission deadline of 15 September 2010 — has been issued for Criminal Justice Action Grants, with the designation JLS/2010/JPEN/AG, by the EU Directorate General for Justice, Freedom, and Security.

Proposals are invited on the following legal informatics topics:

Interconnection of criminal records

“National and transnational projects concerning the interconnection of national criminal record IT systems within the EU presented by national central authorities [...]. Exchange of information about convictions in the EU is to be facilitated through the creation of a computerised system of exchange of information ECRIS-European Criminal Records Information System. Projects should have one or more of the following objectives:”

• “Appropriate modernisation and computerisation of national criminal records IT systems where necessary for European interconnection: this could involve preparatory/feasibility studies, project development, purchase of computer software.
• Dedicated training of personnel working for national criminal record authorities, e.g. training on the functioning of their newly updated national information system, as well as specific training for those in charge of dealing at European level with other criminal record systems/foreign authorities;
• Projects aimed at facilitating the exchange of information extracted from criminal records between Member States’ central authorities for purposes other than criminal proceedings.
• Projects aimed at preparing the future implementation of ECRIS. These may include studies, preparatory meetings, translation of documents, technical and legal support to improve mutual understanding of criminal records information and technical exchanges.”

European e-Justice

“A separate call for European e-Justice with specific conditions is foreseen and has already been published. However, European e-Justice is also one of the priorities of this general call under the Criminal Justice Programme in 2010. In this general call, non-profit organisations are encouraged to participate in the development of European e-Justice. Their projects should help develop the use of electronic tools in the context of justice, taking into consideration national developments on the basis of exchange of best practice.

“All projects should aim to provide practical tools to enable better access to crossborder justice for EU citizens. [...]“

Proposals are invited on the following topics:

• “Support to multilinguism through translation of legal online sources of information
• Development of multilingual tools necessary to find a legal professional in another Member State
• Development of multilingual tools necessary to communication or exchange of data between legal practitioners
• Support to workshops relating to exchange of best practices in the field of e-Justice and dissemination of information on the results of existing national or cross-border projects
• Development of secure paperless procedures, between citizens and legal professions or amongst legal professions
• Creation or interconnection of national or European-level databases with national legislation and/or case law of the Member States relevant for the application of mutual recognition instruments or instruments approximating substantive criminal law.”

For more information, please see the call for proposals.

Tags: Case law databases, Court decisions, Criminal justice information systems, Criminal law information systems, Criminal procedure information systems, Criminal record information systems, Cross-language legal information retrieval, Digital law libraries, Directorate General for Justice Freedom and Security, ECRIS, eJustice, EU, European Criminal Records Information System, European e-Justice Portal, European Union, Interoperability of legal information, Judicial decisions, Legal communication, Legal informatics grants, Legal information retrieval, Legal translation, Legislative databases, Legislative information systems, Multilingual legal information retrieval, Online legal services, Transfer of legal data, Transfer of legal information