 Good afternoon everybody and I'm very pleased to welcome you to this IIEA webinar, Protecting Citizens and Freedoms, the Justice Priorities of the Portuguese Presidency. We're delighted today to be joined by Anabel Pedrozo, Portuguese Secretary of State for Justice, who has been generous enough to take time to talk to us out of her busy schedule, seeing how Portugal is in the presidency this year. I'm going to give you a little introduction to Anabel Pedrozo. She began her career in public administration in the Ministry of Finance in 1977 and among other positions she has served as President of the Agency of Administrative Modernization, Member of the Board of Directors of the Knowledge Society Agency, Advisor to the Secretary of State for Public Administration and during her career she has led and participated in projects of great public interest with a strong focus on innovation and citizen delivery. She has received several public recognitions including an award that we'd all love to get, the best leader in public administration in 2009 and 2010 and she was named as one of the five most influential women in information and communications technology in Portugal. Now Secretary Pedrozo will talk to us for about 25 minutes and I would ask people if you think of a question you want to ask during her presentation you can use the Q&A function on the Zoom down at the bottom of your screen and you're free to send in your questions as they arise during the presentation and then at the end of Secretary Pedrozo's presentation we will hand we will handle those Q&A and you can also follow us on Twitter using the handle at IIEA. So I would now invite Secretary Pedrozo to give us her presentation. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much and first of all naturally I would like to thank the Institute of International and European Affairs for this kind of invitation. That gives me the opportunity to address a subject of huge significance, the protection of citizens, freedoms and fundamental rights. Significant in the dynamic and sometimes unpredictable world as we were speaking a little before the beginning of the seminar. Significant in Europe that aims to continue the complementary vision of economic growth and social cohesion and where citizenship and fundamental rights are not only words but fundamental principles. In exactly one month the Portuguese presidency will come to an end. The transition to our Slovenian colleagues will already be a market that at the next Justice and Home Affairs Council in June 7 and that's why it is therefore just a time for us to start the assessment of this journey and it is obviously with a sense of duty fulfilled but at the same time the humble awareness of how much need to continue to be done, that I note the results achieved in the topics concerning the area of freedom, security and justice. So when we took over the presidency for the first time as a matter of fact I'm old lady so is my second of my third presidency that I have the I'm in it's wonderful it's great it's great well but returning to the speech. When you took over the presidency for the first time we were particularly oriented towards what we together can do more and better. We committed ourselves to develop a presidency focused on inclusive and participatory citizenship with a strong digital component always based on human rights and on the protection of citizens in an expression a Europe of all and for all. But the Portuguese presidency marked clearly by the extraordinary circumstances of pandemic that we are still living has been a project centered on the future and on the ability to achieve a resilient Europe in which no one is left behind. And under the motto time to deliver a fair green and digital recovery Portugal aims to promote the European recovery its cohesion and values and relaunch the European Union as a leader in climate action accelerating digital transformation at the service of citizens and businesses and valuing and strengthening the European social model and promoting a Europe open to the world this is what we want to do together. Particularly in the area of justice our priorities encompass the concerns the challenges and opportunities issued by the digital but in close connection with the necessary promotion of an inclusive safe and participatory citizenship. Accordingly the priorities of justice for the Portuguese presidency have been the protection of the vulnerable adults the use of digital technologies in justice and the counterfeiting in its connection with organized crime. But always in close connection with what we can say the traditional areas that we reinvented areas of work in justice like judicial cooperation in criminal or civil matters the strengthening and protecting fundamental rights in the rule of law and prevention and fight against terrorism organized crime and cybercrime. Through this it has been our goal to promote resilience efficiency and innovation in justice systems putting people at the center aligned with the European vision of digital development involving the all actors in the justice ecosystem and reflecting the dimensions of digital transformation. But allow me to go a little deeper in the priorities early mentioned in beginning for one part that I think that is very important in Europe in our days protection of vulnerable adults. As we know in an increasingly aging Europe with low birth rates and in which one in six citizens has a limiting disability and where specific groups women children and impoverished are in precarious situations due to their socioeconomic conditions it's urgent to inquire and find answers about the difficulties on the access to justice and on the exercise of their rights. In our view the existing challenges made it urgent to examine and discuss at union level the sufficiency of the mechanisms to ensure their active participation and the legal framework in force with a view to outlining future work planes. We have therefore chosen to give special attention and to encourage joint reflection by all members states on the guarantee of protection and promotion of the rights of these groups. And so in the legal frameworks for instance both in the civil sphere as regards of recognition of legal personality or nickel terms and the role of international cooperation or in the criminal sphere from the outset as suspects and defendants especially as victims. And in this context the minister of justice of the member states of union were invited to discuss this matter at the informal meeting held on 29th of January having confirmed its relevance and pertinence. In the same alignment we have also organized in on March the 30th a high level conference about vulnerable adults which allowed an extended reflection on this subject. And finally at the next justice home affairs council in June we plan to adopt the council conclusions on the protection of vulnerable adults across Europe which we hope will serve as a guide to the future action of the institutions and member states in this important sensitive but crucial area. And continue the assessment another essential vector of the Portuguese presidency connected with the previous topic is the protection and promotion of the rule of law which together with democracy and the respect of the four fundamental rights constitutes a tripod that holds societies. And so following the footsteps of the German presidency under which a new political dialogue mechanism was established in the council the Portuguese presidency continued this dialogue with the assessment of a second group of member states including Germany, Ireland, Greece, Spain and France during the general affairs council in April. We strongly believe that this process contributes to the strengthening of the unions in the mechanisms for the defense of the rule of law through a frank dialogue between member states and through the sharing of good practices. And the moment couldn't be more appropriate. The COVID-19 pandemic has shown in a blatant way that the protection of fundamental rights and values of the union cannot be taken by a for granted. It is rather an ongoing diligence and a shared responsibility which requires a collective effort from all. And particularly aware of this context the Portuguese presidency has assumed itself as the presidency focused and engaged on the promotion and protection of the fundamental rights that cannot be pursued without effective access to justice. And this brings us to another strategic vector of our presidency judicial cooperation. In this particular we assumed as a priority the negotiation of the ecodex regulation creating a stable and sustainable governance allowing cross-border communication of judicial data through secure procedures. The negotiation reached a positive conclusion in May and the final document will be presented on the Justice and Home Affairs Council on the 7th of June something that pleases us a lot naturally. And also regarding judicial cooperation we have noted that with the outbreak of the pandemic phenomena such cybercrime, corruption and criminality linked to intellectual property rights have gained a relevance that it's not something that we should look to the other side because it's becoming very important. As such a special importance was given to deepening the police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters as a fundamental component of the area of freedom, security and justice in the union focusing efforts on the coordination of the fight against organized and cross-border crime and counterfeiting, counterfeiting, evolving, erroneous and erroneous poem. And besides that the Portuguese presidency has also devoted a special attention to the negotiation of the second additional protocol to the Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime and also in the context of judicial cooperation in criminal matters we are involved on the regard of the coalition and preservation of electronic evidence and we began the negotiation on the 10th of February. During this time the data protection working group also continued to monitor the implementation of the so-called data protection package which includes the general data protection regulation and directive on processing of data for criminal purposes in close cooperation with European data protection supervisor and the European data protection poet. And all that said ladies and gentlemen I think that we start to take into account that the digital is one of the keystones of the future of Europe. Portugal has been assuming internally and in the various international forum like OECD the commitment to deepen the strategy for the digitization of justice and for a people-centered approach. And because the people-centered approach was such a fundamental stepping stone to the to the Portuguese presidency we organized, we have organized the high-level conference for a people-centered injustice on the 26th and 27th of April aiming and promoting the reflection among governments, international organizations, academia, businesses and civil society on the past already taken and the challenges that we will have to overcome in an evolving Europe where the pandemic COVID-19 cannot fail to be part of the equation of this in this future readjustment. And during two very intensive days 79 speakers and more than 2000 people engaged online had the opportunity to share knowledge, experiences and reflections about the subject. But I think that at this stage allow me a little reflection on digital transformation. We speak for many years and I was listening the little resume about my professional life in so few words and for 20 or 30 years that I'm speaking about digital transformation. In those days we didn't speak digital transformation or ICT or informatization or whatsoever. But sometimes those words became cliche and when they become cliche no matter what we are saying because no one will listen. And that's why our conference becomes with a name that is natural to use digital transformation and people-centered and so what you can ask. And so that was the question and that was something that we want to achieve with some answers during those two days. Because I think today's world digital is key and almost naturally in the way that is completely integrated in our day-to-day life as individuals, as professionals. But I think, I'm real sure about that, that it was during this pandemic that in the public sector the awareness of its importance was really interiorized. And I don't like to do generalizations. I think that a country, a community, a person, all are different. But there are common patterns when facing a crisis, the needs, the expectations, the response in stressful situations. And this was exactly what happened during this last year. How should the government react? How should the Europe respond as a collective? How should professionals adapt their work? What are the new needs of citizens and SMEs? What are the risks of the most vulnerable? And so during this period governments have been asked, and here I speak from my personal experience, but governments have been asked to provide non-stop online services. But most importantly, to keep the perception of the public service continuing, that the public institutions didn't stop and the citizens were not left alone. And despite the problems and the lack of certainties in some areas, during this pandemic, it was proved that the resilience and the capacity of adaptation wouldn't have been possible if the digital wasn't already a reality in a large majority of countries and especially in Europe. As an example, let me only give you a little example of what happened here in Portugal. During the beginning of the health emergency, I think that we were all in shock. We didn't know what to do. So everything closed. The doors were shut and we were closed in our houses. So we had a problem. Fortunately, we have babies born, fortunately, despite all that. And so we had a problem with that because the birth registration of babies could no longer be done in the maternity ward as usual. To answer that, in one week, and this is something that I would like to emphasize, in one week, the services of registration developed a solution. We call the online birth registration, which allowed the parents to register the babies without leaving home. And in Portugal, this is very important, naturally, in all Europe because with this comes our identity card and our tax number and our social security number and our health number. So everything is connected with the birth certification. And it was a huge success today. 36 percent of the born's babies are done in this way. So the registration is done in this way. But what I want to emphasize, and I want to stress here, is when things went wrong, is where we overcome our own fears, our own way of living. And leadership, commitment, adaptation, supported in digital technologies really matter for this continuum of the rule of law and of its institutions. And so that's why back to the high level conference for a people's centric injustice. This is not only speak about people's centric justice, because this is something that is a common ground for all. But again, the world is at a turning point. But it's again where the technological maturity allows justice to produce most efficient systems in terms of cost and perhaps optimization of resources. But here comes our challenge. And I suppose that this is something that you would like to listen what is our experience and what we think about this area of digitalization of justice. I think that even today, until today, the evolution that we are speaking about ICT is very related with what we can say the needs generated by the system by the system's administrative experience, not from the outside experience from the citizens. Because, and I think that for a real revolution, when it comes to digital transition, justice system and it justice need to be developed around people's legal needs as they experience them from that and from their perspective. Only by placing people at the center of the reforms and transformations and developing services more suited to their needs and capacities can a holistic vision for the justice ecosystem be realized. With the joint commitment of politicians, professional classes, legal technological companies and all the relevant stakeholders. And this requires a multidimensional approach to be aware of the multiple realities that exist in time and space each moment in our life. And this is the big challenge that I see for governments and for technological developers because we need to answer and to see how to use technology to make justice closer, legible and accessible to all. And in this way, I think that we face a double challenge. How to digitize what is really needed for end users and how can we innovate and change and change somehow the very foundations of justice systems using perhaps technology, using perhaps another way of thinking, but to make them really people-centered. And I think that there is no common answers or a pattern. Well, yes it is. Well, there exists a pattern. Sometimes we have to put them locally, but the pattern is general. I think that first, I think that we need to look from the outside of the box. I think that we need to look to answer this question from a people perspective. And that's why we speak about producing and analyzing data about the needs of justice, about the experiences that people have, about what game changers can deliver, what is needed to as many people as possible, and especially in an intelligible way. Because it's not no use and I have that experience in all my life. It's no use of a service accessible that is very difficult to use. The people don't use it, period. But secondly, we need to find ways to make the regulatory environment more adequate to the fostering of game-changing technologies. As Gillian Hetfield underlines in the rules for a flat world, it is somewhat urgent to change regulations in the legal area or we will be under utilizing technologies that can make justice closer and more transparent to people. And this is very challenging and I can say provocative for all of us. I'm a state secretary and I'm speaking about myself and what am I doing here. And if I'm what I'm doing is really changing something and if the foundations can be moved, some not, but some yes. And so why shouldn't we do that? And third, we need to improve legal literacy and legal digital competencies. On one hand, it is necessary to think about the best way to empower, educate, involve and allow citizens to use computer tools so that they can exercise their rights. But on the other hand, we need to invest in human resources, mainly IT experts, who understand the area of justice and really can boost people-centered services through innovative technologies. The use of IT's tools should result in greater inclusion, not less. And this is paramount to avoid the growing digital divide. And so I think that looking to the future, there are many opportunities to transform justice in the EU. Using probably technologies already available, with many potentialities such interoperability between information systems, blockchain, artificial intelligence, machine learning, well, everything you can use. Because with that it is possible to analyze documents, contracts, highlighting information, et cetera, et cetera. But in order to be transformative, justice must be much more innovative in their approaches. I can say a little more experimental because when we are speaking about reforms is not only a question of the past prosciutto reforms that we had, we have to go forward and see what is going on today. Do more proof of concept and pilot projects before escalating the changes and turning them into laws. It is necessary that digitization of justice systems include interactions with all the justice ecosystem and that they are rethought according to what technology allows today. But not in the same logic as when they were conceived and translated into law. And that this is the challenge that we have. And then we need to make all predictioners. No matter if you are speaking about the judicial area and legal professionals or scientists or administrations or technologists, they need to have a common lexical, something that they can understand on each other. Create a common ground for communication. So what the change teams know the environment and the sector for which they work. And only focused on the essentials and with an experimental attitude working in these multidisciplinary teams can we move forward so that technologies can help transform justice towards a citizen-centered approach. And again, I say this is a cliche. But from a cliche, you can create a new cause for all of this. And so I think that in conclusion, we are aware that we took on a very ambitious agenda for the Portuguese presidency. And as a matter of fact, after it. And that's why it is so important to prioritize initiatives that contribute for the celebration of the digital transition, promoting the European leadership in digital innovation and digital economy. And understand how to make it operational and successful. But we can't forget that with the new trends came new challenges. And if we really want to achieve a justice for all, we need to find the right balance between the fast and furious movement of the technology and the sometimes slow motion of behaviors, organizational culture, and especially never forget why and for whom we are working for the citizens. We must reflect on the needed symbiosis between technology, innovation, entrepreneurship, social responsibility, with the ability to have a vision that acts beyond the immediacy, helping to guarantee especially the dignity and the opportunity for all. And those are the fundamental ingredients of a principle that is very dear to me, a law for good. As Gerard Lerner reminders in this group technology versus humanity, civilizations are driven by their technology, he said, but defined by their humanity. And I'm convinced that time will demonstrate that the results achieved by the Portuguese presidency have contributed to the protection of the rights and freedoms of Europe's citizens, to the deepening of the area of freedom and security and justice and to foster a future reflection and discussion on the role of the justice in the accessibility for all citizens. As for me, on the last personal note, allow me that it was really an honor to be part of the Portuguese process, the Portuguese presidency process. Why? Well, because in public service, and sometimes, well, let me use the words of an old movie, perhaps some of you will remember Philadelphia. Andrew Beckett said in one part of the text, every now and again, not often, but occasionally, you get to be a part of justice being done. And it really is quite a thrill when that happens. And this is exactly what I feel. I'm so pleased, I'm so happy and honored to be part of this. And so, and even to be here today with this perspective and this opportunity to share with you what we have done, what we would like to be doing in the future, and especially the opportunity to share how we are committed to be together in this, in this way, in this path to better service to citizens and to businesses. So thank you very much. No, it was a real pleasure.