Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union

E2: Environmental statistics and accounts; sustainable development

e-mail contact : ESTAT-SDG-MONITORING@ec.europa.eu

The indicator is part of the EU Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) indicator set. It is used to monitor progress towards SDG 16 on peace, justice and strong institutions, which is embedded in the European Commission’s Priorities under 'Promoting our European way of life' and 'A new push for European democracy'.

SDG 16 calls for peaceful and inclusive societies based on respect for human rights, protection of the most vulnerable, the rule of law and good governance at all levels. It also envisions transparent, effective and accountable institutions, which promote non-discriminatory laws and policies, combat corruption, bribery and organised crime and prevent violence, terrorism and crime.

The improvement of the effectiveness of justice systems in Member States has been identified as a key component for structural reforms in the European Semester, the annual cycle for the coordination of economic policies at EU level. The EU monitors with the help of the Justice Scoreboard the efficiency, quality and independence of the justice systems of the Member States. In 2020, the Joint Communication to the European Parliament and the Council announced the EU Action Plan on Human Rights and Democracy 2020-2024, which includes supporting the rule of law and the fair administration of justice among its actions.

Well-functioning justice systems are an important structural condition on which EU Member States base their sustainable growth and social stability policies. Whatever the model of the national justice system or the legal tradition in which it is anchored, quality, independence and efficiency are some of the essential parameters of an ‘effective justice system’. As a key part of the EU Justice Scoreboard, the indicator helps to assess the quality of the justice system.

The indicator measures the general government total expenditure on law courts according to the classification of the functions of government (COFOG). This includes expenditure on administration, operation or support of civil and criminal law courts and the judicial system, including enforcement of fines and legal settlements imposed by the courts and operation of parole and probation systems;  legal representation and advice on behalf of government or on behalf of others provided by government in cash or in services. Law courts include administrative tribunals, ombudsmen and the like, and exclude prison administrations.

In computing the per capita indicator, the average National Accounts (NA) population data of the reference year is used as denominator (calculated as the arithmetic mean of the population on 1st January of two consecutive years).

million EUR and EUR per inhabitant

Calendar year

The indicator is produced according to the high-level quality standards of European Statistics. Details on accuracy can be found in the metadata of the source datasets (see link to related metadata).

ESS

Data source: European Statistical System (ESS).
Data provider: Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, based on data reported by the countries.

Every year

The indicator is updated annually. Complete and updated ESS data release information can be accessed via Eurostat release calendar.

T+2 years

New data points are disseminated within two years after the reference year.

Compulsory transmission of general government expenditure by function is once a year by t+12 months after the end of the reference period. Certain countries revise data more frequently on a voluntary basis. EU/EA aggregates are updated along with Member States data.

All EU MS

Data are presented for all EU Member States plus Iceland, Norway and Switzerland.

All EU MS

Data are comparable between all EU Member States respectively other presented countries.

> 10 years

Presented time series including EU aggregates starts in 2001.

> 4 data points

Length of comparable time series without methodological break is longer than 4 data points.

Analysis of the indicator is presented in Eurostat's annual monitoring report on Sustainable development in the EU (progress towards SDGs in the EU context).

See table sdg_16_30

Eurostat dedicated section on SDGs: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/sdi/overview

Copyrights: Eurostat Copyright/Licence Policy is applicable.