ENCJ Survey among judges on the independence of the judiciary 2025

Abstract

The survey among the judges of Europe about their independence took place for the fifth time in the first quarter of 2025. In total 19,136 judges from 32 judiciaries of 30 countries participated. The target for participation was set at 20%, which most judiciaries (easily) achieved. The main findings are: (1) Judges generally evaluate their independence positively. On a 10-point scale, judges rate the independence of the judges in their country on average between 5.9 and 9.8 with the lowest score for Ukraine, followed by Montenegro (6.8), Hungary (7.0), Bulgaria and Bosnia and Herzegovina (both 7.1). The scores of ten judiciaries are 9 or higher. The respondents rate their personal independence even higher: between 6.8 and 9.9. Consistent with the positive assessment of independence, few judges report inappropriate pressure to influence judicial decisions. (2) Since 2015, when the first survey took place, independence has gradually improved on average for all judiciaries together. However, this trend comes to a halt in this survey, where depending on the yardstick the average score across countries remained the same or declined somewhat since the previous survey. Based on the experience of judges who have been working for many years, independence has improved over a longer period. (3) Examining the judiciaries individually, in most of them perceived independence remained high or improved since the first survey. However, in some judiciaries the respondents see declines. This is the case in Hungary which participated for the first time in 2019, but also in Montenegro and Greece (foremost civil and criminal courts) declines occurred and to a lesser extent in Slovenia. In Bosnia and Herzegovina the independence score is stable at a low level.