Sixth World Congress

Towards a Justice with a Human Face is a comprehensive volume containing the proceedings of the First International Congress on the Law of Civil Procedure, held at the Faculty of Law, State University of Ghent, Belgium, from 27 August to 4 September 1977. Edited by Marcel Storme and Hélène Casman, the book captures the intellectual discussions, reports, and reflections of leading scholars, practitioners, and policymakers engaged in civil procedural reform.

The central theme of the congress—and of the publication—is the humanisation of civil justice systems across different jurisdictions, with the guiding concern of aligning legal procedures with the needs of individuals, particularly vulnerable groups, while maintaining principles of fairness, efficiency, and judicial independence.

Structure and Content

1. Opening Session
   • The congress began with formal addresses by distinguished academics, government officials, and legal professionals. These speeches set the tone by highlighting the necessity of procedural reforms in civil justice and the importance of comparative international dialogue.
2. General Reports
   The heart of the book lies in the wide range of general reports presented at the congress. Each report addressed a critical area of civil procedure, often accompanied by comparative perspectives from multiple legal systems. Key topics include:
   • Fundamental principles of private judicial law: Exploration of the philosophical and constitutional underpinnings of procedural fairness, access to remedies, and the balance between judicial discretion and legal certainty.
   • International civil procedure: Examination of conflicts of jurisdiction, recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments, and procedural harmonisation in a transnational context.
   • Administration of evidence: Analysis of evidentiary rules, the burden of proof, admissibility standards, and innovations in managing evidence across jurisdictions.
   • Appeals and appellate procedures: Discussion of the role of appeals in ensuring justice, preventing miscarriages of law, and the risks of excessive delay caused by overly complex appellate systems.
   • Access to justice for the underprivileged: Focus on legal aid, affordable advice, and mechanisms to reduce economic barriers to participation in civil litigation.
   • Humanisation of procedure: Consideration of ways to make justice more comprehensible and humane, avoiding alienation of litigants through excessive formalism.
   • Acceleration of procedures: Proposals for reducing delays and unnecessary costs in civil trials, with emphasis on procedural economy.
   • Small claims courts: Evaluation of simplified mechanisms for resolving minor disputes, balancing efficiency with fairness.
   • The role and competence of judges: Examination of judicial functions, including fact-finding, case management, and their evolving roles in different legal cultures.
   • Selection and appointment of judges: Comparative approaches to judicial recruitment, independence, ethics, and accountability.
   • The public prosecutor in civil procedure: Exploration of contexts in which prosecutorial involvement is necessary to protect public interests within civil litigation.
   • Jurists and paraprofessionals: Analysis of the broader legal workforce, including lawyers, clerks, and auxiliary professionals, and their contributions to accessible justice.
3. Working Sessions and Debates
   • The congress facilitated intensive working sessions where reports were debated, and national representatives shared practical experiences from their legal systems.
   • Themes included balancing efficiency with justice, managing cross-border disputes, and ensuring that reforms truly served litigants rather than institutional actors.
   • Summaries of these discussions provide valuable insights into the comparative state of civil procedure in the late 1970s.
4. Closing Ceremony
   • Reflections at the end of the congress underscored the progress achieved in articulating a shared vision of "justice with a human face."
   • Closing remarks stressed the importance of continued international collaboration to modernize and humanize civil procedures while respecting national traditions.