Flash Eurobarometer 385 (Justice in the EU)

Justice in the EU.<br>Topics: trust in the national justice system; self-rated knowledge on the national justice system on each of the following topics: procedure in case to go to court, the costs of proceedings, how to find a lawyer, the alternatives to court (e.g. mediation), the right to legal aid; attitude towards the national justice system (the State acts in accordance with the law, the law is applied and enforced effectively, all citizens can go to court to defend their rights, the law is applied to everyone equally and without discrimination, the State fights effectively against corruption, and public authorities act in a non-arbitrary way); assessment of the national justice system compared to other justice systems in the EU; assessment of the national justice system when dealing with civil and commercial affairs of the following aspects: length of proceedings, independence of courts and judges, fairness of judgements, execution of judgements, costs of proceedings, use of new technologies, easily understood judicial decisions, straightforward proceedings; assessment of the administrative courts and the criminal courts regarding the above-mentioned aspects; preferred solution to a dispute ( go to court, find an agreement with the other party directly or with the help of a non-judicial body that has a mediation role); respondent personally or a close relation have ever been to a courtroom in the own country or in another EU country ; within the EU the same procedural guarantees apply in all Member States (e.g. the right to a lawyer, the right to an in-terpreter and the right to information) ; knowledge test: the judicial decision will have to be taken in each Member State or in only one of the Member States if citizens in different Member States are involved ; differences between the judicial systems of the Member States in quality, independence and efficiency; functioning of national judicial systems is exclusively a matter for Member States or for the EU.

Demography: age; sex; nationality; age at end of education; occupation; professional position; region; type of community; own a mobile phone and fixed (landline) phone; number of persons in the household aged 15 years and older (household size).

Additionally coded was: mode of interview: type of phone line; weighting factors.