What motivated you to become subdirector for the International Department?

"The international prism has been important to me ever since the beginning of my studies, which I started in England with a dual degree thanks to a partnership between the Universities of Nanterre and Essex. Joining the judiciary was a deep-rooted ambition for me and I joined the ENM with the idea of combining my judicial duties with an international activity.

On completing my initial training at the ENM in 2012, I chose a post as a judge in Beauvais which allowed me to deal with both civil and criminal cases. In 2015, as a young assistant judge at the Court of Cassation, I was given responsibility for the international relations department, which consisted of a small team in charge of some ambitious projects involving cooperation between supreme courts, in conjunction with several French institutions. That's where I acquired a taste for working in an international setting, because I really became aware of the reputation of the French justice system abroad and the expectations it could arouse. In 2019, I moved to the Ministry of Justice to head the diplomatic unit within the Delegation for European and International Affairs (DAEI). I spent 4 intense and fascinating years there, which were marked by the French Presidency of the European Union and it confirmed my taste for the diplomatic world and its justice-related impacts. In addition to my interest in these subjects, managing a committed team and coordinating inter-ministerial projects were rich experiences.

This career path has enabled me to measure the extent to which international relations and justice come together in many fundamental issues. I believe that by working to reinforce the quality of justice around the world, I am making a commitment to the rule of law and its values. Working for the common good in this way, with such an openness to the world is very meaningful and a source of great satisfaction.

Joining the International Department of the ENM, which is a high-quality institution, structured and recognised in this field, is therefore a real opportunity. I see it as offering the possibility to continue on a path entirely in line with the convictions that drive me, a chance to bring to it the expertise I have developed and my taste for the department's mission.

Working in the ENM's International Department means helping to give States the means to train their judiciary better before they take up their posts, through a school that provides quality training, and then throughout their careers by offering them training courses adapted to the issues they have to deal with. At the ENM we are therefore developing an initial and in-service training offer for foreign judges and prosecutors, with sessions held in France or in the country of origin on topics as diverse as the fight against corruption, organised crime and intellectual property law, chosen based on the demand from the beneficiaries and on priorities that are regularly re-assessed. These actions are organised by a team with different professional backgrounds and jobs, judges and prosecutors, project coordinators, administrative and logistics managers, all united in their desire to contribute to promoting the rule of law and peace and security."

What are currently the main missions and challenges of the ENM's International Department?

Challenge 1 - To contribute to the promotion of the rule of law through judicial training, by creating a judicial community based on shared fundamental values

"The first challenge is participate in the construction of a justice system that complies with shared European and international values, which are those of the rule of law. On this front, we are very actively involved in the European Judicial Training Network, of which ENM is a founding member. With our European partners we are committed to a joint process of exchanging knowledge and practice on the training of judges and prosecutors, but also other justice professionals. These training sessions take place in Europe, but also beyond the Union's borders.

The aim is to exchange good practices within the European Union, but also to disseminate our European values abroad in the field of international cooperation on justice both to the judiciaries and to other judicial staff who work to strengthen the rule of law.

The "Victims, Information, Compensation in Trials, Investigation (VICTI)" project funded by the European Commission, which started in 2022 and is still in progress, is a good example. Focused on guaranteeing victims' rights in criminal proceedings involving large numbers of victims, two seminars have already been held which included different innovative formats such as simulations of trials and were attended by justice professionals and associations from all over the European Union. This is a subject of interest beyond Europe's borders, of course, and the very wide-ranging content makes it suitable for dissemination to interested non-European actors."

Challenge 2 - To offer quality custom training capable of promoting international standards in judicial training (bilateral cooperation)

"The second challenge is to promote international standards as formalised in the worldwide Declaration of Judicial Training Principles unanimously adopted in 2017 by the International Organisation for Judicial Training. This declaration makes judicial training an essential component of the rule of law. It is to promote these principles that the ENM has undertaken to produce custom programmes in close collaboration with the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs, as well as Expertise France. The idea is to offer support to judicial training schools concerning either their structure itself or the implementation of targeted training courses on subjects of interest.

Supporting the international criminal justice system, now particularly important in the context of the war in Ukraine, is another area to which the International Department is strongly committed. We are proud to be working with the Nuremberg Academy, the Siracusa International Institute and the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs on a project to draw up a guide to the ethical rules for the international criminal courts. The last seminar on this project, "Ethica: towards a common code of ethics for international criminal judges", was held at the ENM in May and was attended by the presidents of seven international criminal courts.

The ENM is also committed to providing support to the Ukrainian justice system, which is faced with war crimes cases, and a Ukrainian delegation was hosted in February for a training session on this subject.

Find out more about international technical cooperation

Challenge 3 - To contribute to the implementation of new priorities in the training of French judges and prosecutors

"In the International Department at the ENM, we endeavour to develop emerging themes that are important to French judges and prosecutors, but also to all those involved in the justice system, such as the development of out-of-court procedures, the need to build a team around the judge or prosecutor or the digital transition. These are areas where experiences developed abroad, such as in Quebec, for example, can be extremely interesting.

By offering French judges and prosecutors the chance to take part in discussions with their foreign counterparts and participate in joint seminars, our aim is to structure the training offered in these emerging fields. It is a process of irrigation, in the interests of all concerned, that we are trying to foster in our international activities."

Pauline Girerd, new Subdirector in charge of the International Department