European Journal of ePractice

Information and computer technologies play a major role in the development and improvement of the judicial process. It helps to deal with growing complexities of litigation and makes hearings faster and more efficient. Creation and maintenance of an effective, modern and capable judiciary is one of the main aims of the Union, and a continuing obligation of EU membership.

This article discusses the principles of the EU in the modernization of Justice and, in particular, Turkey's place in this process. As the eGovernment issue is so wide and comprehensive, discussion will be restricted to basic principles and initiatives in this field and will focus mainly on one particular aspect of it, namely eJustice. I shall present EU principles in modernization of Justice within the context of the accession process, and afterwards some main institutions and initiatives will be examined. The Turkish judicial IT Project (National Judiciary Informatics System, UYAP) will be analysed in order to demonstrate the Turkish Judiciary's potential role and function in this field, as well as the impacts and benefits of enlargement on the member and candidate countries in terms of modernization of Justice. Turkey will not only benefit from accession, but also contribute to the EU in terms of usage of IT in judiciary.

Many countries, even developed ones, are striving to carry out their domestic approaches on the substance of e-transformation like Turkey. It is believed that sharing the experiences gained during the course of the comprehensive UYAP project would be of interest and beneficial to many countries in the EU.