Independence of the judiciary as an aspect of rule of law compliance
Horizon Europe - Innovative Research on Democracy and Governance
€3.0M - €3.5M
16/09/2025
Non-profit, Private Business, Research Institution, Public Institution
Trusted by
What is the Independence of the judiciary as an aspect of rule of law compliance Call?
Expected Outcomes
• Policymakers and judicial authorities develop a better understanding of safeguards for judicial independence in other Member States, enhancing judicial cooperation.
• National policymakers and public administrations receive evidence on the implementation and impact of international and EU rules and standards on judicial independence.
• The EU’s capacity to proactively promote the rule of law, fundamental rights and democracy is strengthened through comprehensive, up-to-date, comparable knowledge of judicial independence safeguards, legal practice, statutory frameworks, landmark case law and recent developments across the EU.
Scope Requirements
• Complement data and analysis from the EU Justice Scoreboard and annual Rule of Law Report.
• Compare and critically assess national judicial independence frameworks across all EU Member States and, where appropriate, enlargement countries.
• Focus in particular on practical functioning of rules on judges’ appointments, promotions, dismissals, workload assessments, case allocations, disciplinary proceedings and transfers.
• Produce concrete, up-to-date, reliable and comparable information on statutory frameworks, legal practice and leading court cases and developments at national level.
• Provide an outline and conduct a comparative analysis of safeguards for judicial independence.
• Highlight national good practices in implementing international and EU standards.
• Develop policy recommendations based on national implementation research to strengthen judicial cooperation between Member States.
• Engage in networking, clustering and cooperation with relevant past and ongoing Horizon Europe, Horizon 2020, CERV and ISF projects.
Special Conditions
• Single-stage submission; deadline 16 September 2025 at 17:00 Brussels time.
• Part B page limit: 50 pages; mandatory detailed budget table using the system template.
• Eligible participants: as per Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes (Annex B for countries, Annex C for financial capacity).
• Evaluation and award: follow Annex D (criteria), Annex F (process and timeline), standard HE-RIA evaluation forms.
• Grants governed by Lump Sum MGA and related simplification decisions; use model forms and templates.
• Applicants encouraged to leverage European Research Infrastructures (ESS, CESSDA, SHARE, EHRI, etc.) and ensure data are FAIR.
• Proposals should plan for clustering with selected projects under this topic and other relevant calls.
Open from: 15/05/2025
Deadline:16/09/2025
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