Regional cooperation in the training of lawyers

An example for training the judiciary?

Conference Stimulating European Judicial Training

Brussels, 10th April 2013Miguel Carmona Ruano

ENCJ

Perspectives of European Judicial training

• - The European added value: the EU role in judicial training–Mme. Le Bail: No need to reproduce• New competences of the EU after Lisbon

Treaty– Articles 81.2.c and 82.1.c TFEU:– “support the training of the judiciary and of judicial staff" in matters

relative to judicial cooperation in civil and criminal– law explicitly target "Judiciary and Judicial staff".

Perspectives of European Judicial training

• European common area of freedom, security and justice• Mutual recognition as the cornerstone• Mutual trust, as requisite of the mutual

recognition– Origin of the concept in the free trade conventions

» I can renounce to new verifications for:• We share common principles and purposes• We apply similar controls• I can trust on the control already made by my partner• I don’t need any further verification

Perspectives of European Judicial training

• Therefore, we need to know:–The common shared principles (in this case

EU law)–The controls applied by our partners (in this

case the national law of the other states…, and the national practice).

• We need to know one’s another• Common judicial culture: EP Pilot Project

on European Judicial Training

Perspectives of European Judicial training

• Communication of the European Commission, September 2011, “Building trust in EU-wide justice. A new dimension to European judicial training“.

• Ambitious programme:– By 2020 half of all legal practitioners in the EU (around 700,000) are

trained in EU law or the national law of another Member State– Focusing on Judges and prosecutors we are dealing with:

» 80.000 judges» 35.000 prosecutors

The role of the Judiciaries

• I am intervening on behalf of the ENCJ• ENCJ consists of the 22 Councils for the Judiciary

or similar institutions existing around the EU Member States– Having as observers

• The Councils for the Judiciary existing in the candidate State• The Ministries of Justice of those countries without a

Council.

• We can contribute with the voice of the Judiciaries throughout the EU

The role of the Judiciaries

• In 2010, the Commission launched a consultation of stakeholders

• We submitted an opinion delivered in common by – the European Network of Councils for the Judiciary

(ENCJ), – the Network of the Presidents of the Supreme Judicial

Courts of the European Union, and – the Association of the Councils of State and Supreme

Administrative Jurisdictions of the European Union

The opinion of the Judiciaries

• In this joint opinion we said that:– “The achievement of an optimum level of judicial

training is primarily the responsibility of Member States (…) with the judiciary being responsible for ensuring that the actual training is carried out effectively and independently”.

– Judicial training includes today• Training in EU law• Training in the legal system of other EU Member States• Training in foreign languages

– This training must be supported by the EC

The opinion of the Judiciaries

• In this scope of:– Promoting the training in EU law. – Promoting training in the understanding of other

national systems. • “Training jointly arranged between States in a

regional grouping or between States in different parts of the EU should be encouraged to promote such understanding”.

The role of the Judiciaries

• As responsible for the judicial training in a significant number of MS, the Judiciaries, and particularly the Councils for the Judiciary were already doing that.

• As government bodies, Councils for the Judiciary know directly the deficiencies in training in the day-to-day activity of judges (and eventually also prosecutors)

Activities of the Judiciaries in the field of Judicial training

• Networks for Judicial training– EJTN• Judicial schools• Institutions for training judges and/or prosecutors

in the MS• Training offered by the EJTN: the Secretary-General,

Mr. Luis Pereira will refer to these activities• Exchanges of the Judicial Schools at regional level

– Lisbon Network

JUDICIAL SCHOOLS

• An example: Communication from the EC:• “In 2001 the Ecole Nationale de la Magistrature (France), the

Centro de Estudos Judiciários (Portugal) and the Escuela Judicial del Consejo General del Poder Judicial (Spain) initiated a close cooperation involving the exchanges of future judges and prosecutors in training activities taking place in these three countries which were focused on Union law related subjects and their own national legal systems. This activity continued uninterruptedly since then, being enlarged with the participation of other training institutions; in 2010, already involving 13 countries, it has been integrated into the EJTN framework”.

Activities of the Judiciaries in the field of Judicial training

• Multilateral colloquiums and seminars–It’s the most common activity of our

networks–Main specific contribution:• Creation of this common judicial culture

in Europe

Regional experiences

• ENCJ:– Regional Seminar on Timeliness for Baltic and Nordic

countries • The seminar will include participants from Estonia, Latvia,

Lithuania, Poland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland

• International Conference of the Regulatory Judicial Authorities of the Balkan Area.– 8th Edition April 2013 Rome

• EAW Forums conducted by the UK, Lithuania and Spain foreseen for 2013.

Regional cooperation also in judicial training?

• The obvious answer is CERTAINLY YES• Advantages:–Easier to organise–Less expensive–More mutual knowledge–Countries with which the participants

keep the most frequent judicial relationships.

What do we consider Regional project?

• According with the proposal from the EC, a regional project is a project which is – whatever the reason - open to a limited number of MS

– Eligibility Criteria :

• 1. A minimum of 4 separate Member States must be involved in every regional project. One MS cannot be partner to more than 2 regional projects per year.

• 2. No more than 2 MS involved may have a common “official language” OR the project may not be limited to a single language group.

• 3. Regional projects must bear a specific transnational element and ensure European added value.

• Are those criteria the only ones valid to consider a project “regional”?

Regional experiences in judicial training: The Spanish CGPJ

• Foro de Murcia, Foro permanente de Estudios Judiciales Europeos “Dámaso Ruiz-Jarabo” (Permanent forum of European Judicial Studies)

• Bilateral meetings– Jornadas del Bidasoa (The Bidassoa Conferences)– Encuentros transfronterizos hispano-lusos

(Hispano-portuguese transborder meetings)

Murcia Forum

– Training activities in EU law organised in the Region of Murcia from 1995– Established from 2002 as a Permanent Forum– 2005 Edition: Applications from Germany, Austria, Denmark, Slovenia, Estonia,

Hungary, Lithuania, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, United Kingdom, Czech Republic, Turkey, France, Italy and Sweden.

– 2010 Edition: 45 judges from different EU countries: ‘XVI Curso de Aplicación Judicial del Derecho Comunitario Europeo’, in the frame of the Foro Permanente de Estudios Jurídicos Europeos Dámaso Ruiz-Jarabo Colomer (2010)

– These courses were preceeded by a “Seminario Permanente de Estudio Comparado de Sistemas Judiciales” (Permanent Seminar of Comparive Study of Judicial Systems trhough the Juridical Language), with 100 participants coming from 15 EU countries.

– As a fruitful result of these Seminars was the elaboration by the European Judicial Network of the SOLON project, a glossary of juridical equivalences on 22 different legal systems.

Regional experiences: The “Bidasoa Conferences”

• Jornadas Judiciales del Bidasoa/Journées Judiciaires de la Bidassoa– Born in 1988 as a personal initiative of the President of the

Guipúzcoa Provincial Court, of Spain, and his correspondent of Bayonne, France.

– Participants. Judges and prosecutors from:• TTSSJJ País Vasco, Navarra, Aragón and La Rioja• Cours d’Appel de Pau, Toulouse, Bordeaux and Agen

– Monographic conferences with one or several specific matters:• IV Jornadas: Aragón. 1994 Environmental law and lay participation in the

Judiciary• VI Jornadas, Navarra, 2000. Rights of the victims.• Next: XII Zaragoza, Aragón, April 2003 : Family law.

Regional experiences: The Hispano-Portuguese trans-border meetings

• Encuentros transfronterizos hispano-portugueses/Encontros transfronteirizos hispano-lusos, from 1999

• Attendants:– Portugal– Spain: Galicia, Castilla-León, Extremadura, Andalucía

• Alternatively organised in Portugal and in the border regions of Spain: Mondáriz June 1999, Castelo Branco, Badajoz, Viana do Castelo, Zamora, Bragança, Salamanca.

• V Meeting: Zamora– EU Regulations in judicial coorperation in civil matteres– European Arrest Warrant

• VI Meeting: Bragança– European executive title– Trans-border seizure of assets – Right of children and ados

• VII Meeting in 2012: Salamanca

Regional experiences

• Other examples:– 6 meeting between Spain and Morocco– 1 meetting Spain-Israel

CONCLUSSION

- The answer to the question: Regional cooperation in the training of lawyers. An example for training the judiciary? Is obvious: YES.

- In fact, the judiciaries have been doing this type of training years ago

- We have seen several positive experiences in this field

- Regional training provides particularly good value:- Better knowledge- Countries with closer and more frequent

relationships