The Rise of the Legal Principle of Open Justice in Europe

This chapter deals with the definition of open justice in Europe. While the term itself is seldom used in continental Europe, being mostly used in common law countries, the adoption in this book of a single, overreaching, notion of open justice, posed as a principle, corresponds to an holistic approach of the relationship between the administration of justice and the public. The chapter attempts to define the concept that encompasses what is described as direct, indirect, and complementary open justice principles. It then focuses on the justifications, both theoretical and practical, of the principle, and describes how the principle has shaped various laws at the EU level.