Digitalisierung des grenzüberschreitenden Zivilprozesses - Entwicklungsstufen und Entwicklungsperspektiven im europäischen Rechtsraum

Digitalization of Cross-Border Civil Procedure - Current Developments and Prospects for Reform Within the European Judicial Area. Regulation (EU) 2023/2844 plays a key role in the European Unions efforts to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of judicial proceedings in cross-border civil, commercial, and criminal matters and to utilize digital technology to improve access to justice in civil and commercial matters. It establishes a new frame-work for exchanging data in cross-border judicial procedures, introduces a central platform for communication between the parties and the authorities in cross-border civil cases, regulates the formal requirements for and legal effects of electronic documents, and provides for the optional use of videoconferencing or other remote communications in oral hearings in civil and criminal matters with cross-border implications. The article critically examines the reform package, arguing that while the EUs initiatives are an important step in the right direction, they are insufficient and not well coordinated. In particular, the article calls for the EU Service Regulation and the EU Evidence Regulation to be revised, and soon, to address these shortcomings.