Access to (digital) justice: principles emerging from the CJEU jurisprudence

The digitalisation of justice is an ongoing process that characterize all EU Member States, though with different scope and most importantly different pace. This process also extends to the creation of out-of-court dispute settlement mechanisms that should enhance access to justice, for citizens (being them social network users, consumers, or business entities). This latter process is currently pushed forward by the EU bodies through the insertion of specific provisions in the most recent proposed and adopted legislation (see art. 21 Digital Services Act, art. 17 European Media Freedom Act, etc.). However, the forms and structure of such alternative fora is far from being clear. The CJEU has never addressed directly the issue of digitalization of justice nor of out-of-court settlement mechanisms, nonetheless the analysis of the cases defining the scope and the interpretation of art. 47 of the Charter of Fundamental rights, as well as the principle of effective judicial protection shed some light on the principles that should apply also in this context. The contribution will analyse the caselaw of the CJEU, starting from the well-known cases of Alassini and then Menini and Rampanelli, to identify the criteria that may ensure fair trial and effective judicial protection also outside judicial proceedings.