The Hebrew University of Jerusalem will lead a €3.5 million international research consortium funded under the European Union’s prestigious Horizon Europe program. Headed by Prof. Ehud Guttel of the Faculty of Law, the project, “Incognito Justice,” brings together nine academic and civil society partners from across Europe under the EU’s “Culture, Creativity and Inclusive Society” cluster. The award reflects the continued strength of international academic collaboration and the shared commitment of researchers and institutions across Europe to advancing innovative interdisciplinary research.
Prof Ehud Guttel of the Faculty of Law at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem has been awarded a prestigious research grant under Pillar 2 of the European Union’s Horizon Europe program, the EU’s flagship framework for research and innovation and one of the world’s leading funding programs for collaborative research. Horizon Europe supports international partnerships between academia, industry, and civil society that seek to address major global, technological, and societal challenges through interdisciplinary research and innovation.
Prof Guttel’s project, “Incognito Justice,” was selected under the “Culture, Creativity and Inclusive Society” cluster. The project received funding totaling €3.5 million and brings together a consortium of nine partners, including academic institutions and civil society organizations from across Europe. The consortium will be coordinated by the Hebrew University under Prof Guttel’s leadership.
The Incognito Justice project examines anonymous judgments, that is, judgments in which the plaintiff’s name is omitted and the decision appears as “Anonymous Plaintiff v. [Defendant’s Name].” Until recently, in the vast majority of legal systems, court proceedings, guided by the principles of open justice and the rule of law, generally included the names of the parties. In recent years, however, the growing online availability of judgments, together with increasing concern for plaintiffs’ privacy, has contributed to a global shift toward anonymized proceedings and judgments.
The project’s research shows that this development is not merely a technical reform, but rather a profound transformation that affects the legal system in ways that have not been fully anticipated: from the content of judgments and judges’ citation practices to media coverage of case law, the perceived legitimacy of judicial decisions, and beyond. The project combines doctrinal analysis with a range of empirical methods and computational tools. In doing so, it offers a comprehensive and original account of a legal transformation that reshapes core assumptions about privacy, transparency, and the public legitimacy of courts.
Prof Oron Shagrir, Rector of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, said: “Prof Ehud Guttel’s achievement is a source of great pride for the Hebrew University. Securing leadership of a highly competitive Horizon Europe consortium reflects both the excellence of our researchers and the university’s deep commitment to international collaboration and impactful research. We are especially excited to work together with our partners across Europe in advancing this important research initiative. At a time when international academic cooperation is more important than ever, partnerships such as this demonstrate the value of open scholarly exchange and collaborative research across borders. We congratulate Prof Guttel and his partners on this significant accomplishment.”
By bringing together researchers and civil society organizations from across Europe, the project reflects the importance of international cooperation in advancing innovative research and addressing shared societal challenges.