The Procedural Law Unit at the University of Nicosia’s 5th Annual Symposium and JIWP 2025 Conference: “Judicial Independence and Liberal Democracy Under Threat: The Challenge of Implementing the ELI Mt Scopus Standards on Judicial Independence”

A symposium on “Judicial Independence and Liberal Democracy Under Threat: The Challenge of Implementing the ELI Mt Scopus Standards on Judicial Independence” will take place from 10 to 12 December 2025 at the University of Nicosia. The event is organised by the Procedural Law Unit in cooperation with the International Association of Judicial Independence and World Peace (JIWP) and will be held at the UNESCO Amphitheatre.

For conflict-of-laws scholars, the theme is of direct relevance. The operation of mutual trust, the circulation of judgments and the effectiveness of cross-border cooperation depend upon structurally independent courts capable of delivering fair and impartial justice. Recent developments in several jurisdictions have renewed the discussion on whether systemic deficiencies can undermine recognition and enforcement mechanisms. The symposium aims to examine these questions against the background of the ELI Mt Scopus Standards, which provide a comprehensive framework for assessing judicial independence in both institutional and functional terms.

The Opening Session, chaired by Assistant Professor Nicolas Kyriakides, will include contributions from representatives of the justice ministries of Greece and Cyprus, members of the Cyprus judiciary and parliament, the Cyprus Bar Association, the European Commission and the European Law Institute. Professor Shimon Shetreet, President of JIWP and Co-Reporter of the Mt Scopus Standards, will also address the audience.

The programme subsequently turns to comparative perspectives, with interventions by Marieta Safta, Graham Zellick, Mikhail Antonov, Alexander Trunk, Daniela Piana, Matthias E. Storme and Achilleas Demetriades. A further session on the contemporary role of courts will feature Valentina Pavlicic, Dragana Kolaric, Amnon Reichman, Gralf-Peter Calliess, Christos Clerides, Takis Tridimas and Giuseppe Franco Ferrari.

The afternoon sessions will consider judicial appointments and structural guarantees, with contributions from Fryderyk Zoll, Sophie Turenne, Caroline Expert-Foulquier, Serhii Kravtsov and Stephanie Laulhé Shaelou, followed by a panel on judicial ethics and accountability with Natasa Plavsic, Philippe Jougleux, George Kontis and Andrea Danuser. The final session, addressing judicial independence in democratic governance, will include Ruti Teitel, Martin Sabelli, Haim Sandberg and Hiram Chodosh, with concluding comments by Maimon Schwarzschild and Elina Asimakopoulou.

For those interested in the institutional foundations of private international law, the symposium offers a timely opportunity to revisit the structural assumptions that underpin cross-border judicial cooperation.

The programme is available here: https://www.unic.ac.cy/event/procedural-law-unit-5th-annual-symposium/

To follow the event online, you may watch the YouTube livestream here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKQ8sRIRQZs