Strengthening Judicial Training in the European Union

Judicial training is vital for the development of a common judicial culture in the EU and for guaranteeing the homogeneous implementation of EC/EU law. The principle of mutual recognition existing in judicial cooperation since the Tampere Programme – and confirmed in the Hague Programme and the future Lisbon Treaty – entails a thorough knowledge of the various EC and EU instruments. Community financial programmes exist today to facilitate Member States’ and other actors’ training costs. The actors in the field of judicial training are in fact varied, even though the national schools play a core role. Various initiatives have suggested – or suggest – strengthening judicial training. Although all major stakeholders agree on the need to reinforce judicial training – and this can be seen in the various latest initiatives – there does not seem to be one distinct option to do so. This note seeks to summarise and analyse these initiatives and the reactions to them, as well as to make some operational recommendations on how to make the most effective use of the resources dedicated to this purpose.