Communicating judicial decisions : stepping out of the black box

The article deals with the principle of openness in the judiciary, specifically communicating judicial decisions to the public. Firstly, it discusses the relation between publicity and transparency of courts on the one hand and their legitimacy on the other. While the authors believe that the judiciary should be increasingly open to the public and point out benefits of that approach, they also recognize the risks thereof. Based on a comparative analysis of courts in a number of European states as well as the CJEU and ECHR the article analyses typical approaches to communication of judicial decisions. The final chapter contains normative conclusions which can serve as general guidelines applicable within the European judiciary.