The Politics of EU Judicial Support After the Arab Spring : From Independence to Efficiency

This book explores the judicial transformations in the Southern Mediterranean region and the mechanisms that trigger these changes. It analyses judicial reforms in Jordan and Morocco in the context of the EU policies to promote and diffuse democratic principles and practices in the MENA region. Based on original empirical research, the book reports findings on how networks of actors involved in the implementation of programs funded by the EU handle policy ideas and interests, and by doing so influence policy outcomes. This study covers both the institutional and the organizational/managerial dimensions of justice, thus shedding light on the two most relevant and critical factors for innovations in the domain of justice. Gaia Taffoni is a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at the School of Transnational Governance, European University Institute, Italy. Her research interests lie in the politics of judicial systems, judicial administration, and European public policy. She has explored her research interests at EU-level and member states-level as well as in the countries of the MENA region.-- Provided by publisher Preface......Page 5 Contents......Page 7 Abbreviations......Page 8 List of Tables......Page 9 1 Promoting Justice in the Southern Mediterranean......Page 11 Judicial Independence in Western Liberal Democracies......Page 12 The Relation Between Rule of Law and Judicial Independence......Page 13 Why Is It Important for Hybrid Regimes to Build an Independent Judiciary?......Page 15 Judicial Promotion: The Role of Legal Accountability......Page 17 From Independence to Efficiency......Page 18 Going Empirical: Constructing Typologies......Page 20 Judicial Independence......Page 21 The Judicial Councils......Page 22 In Search of a European Normative Space......Page 24 The Managerial Dimension......Page 27 The Managerial Approach to Justice and Its Tools......Page 29 Technologies Shaping Judicial Institutions: Regulative Functions Calling for Legislative Changes......Page 30 A First Lingering Question......Page 32 Part 2: How Countries of North Africa Vary: The Case of Morocco and Jordan......Page 34 Before the Arab Spring, a Common Background......Page 35 Most Similar Cases: The EU Involvement in Support of Morocco and Jordan......Page 36 The Systemic Governance of the Judiciary: The Main Variance......Page 37 Morocco and Jordan: Two Different Judicial Reforms......Page 39 Morocco......Page 40 Jordan......Page 44 The Dynamic of External Influence on Domestic Judicial Reforms......Page 48 How We Got Here: Framing the Puzzle......Page 49 Change Actors and Norm Entrepreneurs......Page 53 Setting the Scene: An Internal/External Account of Change......Page 56 Empirical Strategy......Page 59 Structure of the Book......Page 60 References......Page 62 An Examination of the Nature of EU Judicial Cooperation......Page 70 The Analysis of European Discourses of Judicial Promotion......Page 73 The European Commission Official Statements on Rule of Law and Judicial Support in the Southern Mediterranean......Page 75 Independence and Efficiency Frequencies......Page 77 Towards a Model of European Judicial Support......Page 78 The European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice: Setting the Standards for a European Path of Digital Innovations?......Page 79 The ENPI/ENI Actions in Morocco and Jordan: A Comparative Overview......Page 81 A Matter of Soft Law: Judicial Epistemic Communities in the MENA Region......Page 84 The Peculiar Nature of Technical Assistance......Page 87 Programmes of Judicial Cooperation: Twinning and TAIEX......Page 89 Twinning......Page 90 TAIEX......Page 92 Conclusion......Page 94 References......Page 95 Judicial Independence, Administrative Accountabilities and the Role of Ideas......Page 99 Overview of the Domestic Reforms......Page 102 EU-Moroccan Judicial Cooperation Before 2011......Page 103 The Moroccan Driven Adoption of a High Judicial Council......Page 104 How European Inputs Are Entering Morocco’s Judicial Managerial Organization......Page 107 The French Support for an Efficient Judicial Academy......Page 109 E-Justice in Morocco: Where to Go Next?......Page 112 A First Tentative Summary of the Internal/External Model......Page 114 References......Page 116 4 Jordan: Little Steps Towards a Reformed Judiciary......Page 118 Constitutional Reforms in Jordan: The Status of the Judiciary......Page 119 Pre-2011 Justice Sector Reform......Page 121 The Judicial Independence Law and the JUST Strategy: Milestones in King Abdullah’s Judicial Reform......Page 122 An Independent Judiciary Today for a Stronger Support Tomorrow......Page 123 First Stage of the Reforms: The Turning Point in Jordan’s Judiciary......Page 124 Second Stage of the Reforms: The European Support to the Managerial Dimension of Justice......Page 126 Inputs: One Programme, Five Different Components......Page 127 The Micro-Projects: Championing Legal Drafting......Page 128 Second Tentative Summary of the Internal/External Model of Change......Page 132 References......Page 135 5 Limitations and Possibilities of Externally Supported Judicial Reforms......Page 137 Comparing the Cases......Page 138 Looking on the Inside: Who’s in Charge of Judicial Power?......Page 140 A Matter of Power......Page 141 Net Gains and Successfully Endorsed External Models......Page 143 What Role for EU-Mediterranean Judicial Support in the Light of Moroccan and Jordanian’s Developments?......Page 145 References......Page 148 Index......Page 149