Admission for civil servants

Civil servants wishing to enter the ENM as "auditeurs de justice", i.e. trainee judges and prosecutors on the full 31-month course, may be recruited via a competitive entrance examination or the application process.

Taking the 2nd competitive entrance examination

2nd competitive entrance examination: key information

• Probationary training, paid (length of professional experience taken into account), over 31 months
• Age limit 48 years and 5 months
• Minimum of 4 years’ service as a civil servant

2nd ENM entrance examination admission requirements

Be a civil servant

   Be a civil servant, government employee, local government officer, employee of a public institution or a public hospital.

4 years as a civil servant

   Have worked for a public service for at least 4 years on 1 January of the year of the examination.

Be aged no more than 48 years and 5 months on 1 January of the year of the examination

   Exemptions exist under various legal and regulatory provisions under which there are a certain limited number of situations in which the age limit can be waived for candidates for the 2nd entrance examination.

Be a French national

   The ENM entrance examination is open only to French citizens.

Enjoy your full civic rights and be of good character

   Particular attention is paid to this condition given the nature of the positions to be held by the applicants admitted after taking the entrance examination. As well as checking the applicant’s criminal record, an in-depth investigation will be conducted concerning them, in particular by consulting automated personal data files (Articles L.114-1, L.234-1, L 234-2, R114-1, R114-2 and R 234-1 of the Internal Security Code and Article 230-6 of the Code of Criminal Procedure). Where there is no doubt as to their existence, any acts committed by the applicant that are contrary to the good character requirement, even if they did not lead to prosecution, may give rise to a decision eliminating the application on these grounds.

Meet the requirements on being physically fit to perform your duties, taking into account measures to compensate for disability

   (Article 16-5° of Order no. 1270 of 22 December 1958, amended) Admission to the ENM is conditional on passing the medical examinations required by Articles 20 et seq. of Decree no. 86-442 of 14 March 1986. These medical examinations take place before students take up their place at the ENM under the control of an officially accredited physician.

Papers and programmes

   See : details of the papers and programme (documents in French).

The 2nd competitive entrance examination in figures

• Applicants may sit the 2nd competitive entrance examination for the ENM a maximum of three times. Only actual presence for at least one of the papers is counted, not simply the completion of the application form
• The number of places available is decided every year by the Ministry for Justice.

PLACES OFFERED	2020	2019	2018
In the 3 entrance exams	250	250	250
In the 2nd entrance exam	45	45	45

The application process (Art. 18-1)

Recruitment under Article 18-1: key information

• Probationary training, paid (length of professional experience taken into account), over 31 months
• Applicants must be aged between 31 and 40 years
• They must have a qualification corresponding to 4 years of higher education in a legal field
• They must have worked for at least 4 years in a legal, economic, human or social sciences-related field qualifying as relevant to a career in the judiciary

Conditions of recruitment under Article 18-1

Recruitment procedures not involving competitive entrance examinations are handled by the Judicial Services Directorate (DSJ) and not by the ENM.

Recruitment under Article 18-1 in figures

	Promotion 2020	Promotion 2019	Promotion 2018
Number of trainee judges/prosecutors recruited under Article 18-1 /number of auditeur de justice trainees	46 sur 294	59 sur 309	71 sur 350

   

What does the training at the ENM consist of?

The 2nd entrance examination and recruitment via the application process under Article 18-1 of the Order on the Status of the Judiciary allow candidates to be admitted onto the ENM's 31-month initial training course. It does not provide training in the law, but in the job of being a judge or prosecutor – and the professional techniques that it requires – through:

• 30% practical teaching at the ENM (exchanges with serving judges and prosecutors, their partners and professionals in other areas, teaching given by experts, simulations of hearings, case studies, etc.);
• 70% introductory and professionalisation internships (mainly with courts, but also in law firms, with police criminal investigation departments, in prisons, in companies and public institutions, abroad, etc.).

Over a period of almost 13 months spent with a court, starting on the first day, trainee judges and prosecutors find themselves making decisions under the responsibility of an internship supervisor. 
Internship locations are proposed by the School.

The training period is also a probationary period: the trainee judges and prosecutors are assessed both while at the school and during their practical internship in a court. They must be declared fit to practise as judges and prosecutors before they begin a 4-month specialisation for the type of post they have chosen.

What posts are available in the judiciary?

After their 31 months of training, the trainees are ready to take up their first posts in the functions of judge, juvenile judge, sentence enforcement judge, investigating judge, protection dispute judge and deputy public prosecutor.
They will then be able to move on to other functions during the course of their career.
 

Trainee judges and prosecutors recruited via the application process under Articles 22 and 23 take a 12-month course as "direct integration candidates".

The application process (Art. 22 and 23)

Recruitment under Articles 22 and 23: essential information

• Probationary training, paid (length of professional experience taken into account), over 12 months
• Applicants must be aged at least 35 years
• They must have a qualification corresponding to 4 years of higher education (except for court registry managers and category A civil servants who have worked at the Ministry for Justice for 7 years for grade 2)
• They must have at least 7 years (grade 2) or 15 years (grade 1) of professional experience in a field particularly relevant to a career in the judiciary.

Conditions of recruitment under Articles 22 and 23

Recruitment procedures not involving competitive entrance examinations are handled by the Judicial Services Directorate (DSJ) and not by the ENM. Contact : recrutements.dsj-rhm2@justice.gouv.fr

Recruitment under Articles 22 and 23 in figures

	2020 entry	2019 entry	2018 entry
Number of direct integration candidates  trained at the ENM	43	43	73

What does the training at the ENM consist of?

The course for direct integration candidates does not provide training in the law, but in the job of being a judge or prosecutor and the professional techniques that it requires, through:

• 1 month's practical teaching at the ENM (exchanges with serving judges and prosecutors, simulations of hearings, situation games, etc.);
• 11 months of internships with courts during which, starting on the first day, direct integration candidates find themselves making decisions under the responsibility of an internship supervisor.

The training period is also a probationary period: the trainee judges and prosecutors are assessed during their 6-month practical internship in a court. They must be declared fit to practise as judges and prosecutors (see paragraph "probationary assessment") before they begin a 5-month specialisation for the type of post they have chosen (see below).
Trainees are paid during the course.

What posts are available in the judiciary?

When they have completed their training, grade 2 direct integration candidates can become a deputy public prosecutor, judge, investigating judge, sentence enforcement judge, juvenile judge or protection dispute judge.
As for grade 1 candidates, they can become a vice-prosecutor, vice-president of a court or a specialised vice-president in charge of liberty and custody judges, for example.

Complementary competitive entrance examinations are not held systematically every year, and in recent years the posts on offer have only been at grade 2.
Applicants who pass the ENM complementary examinations then follow a 7 to 9-month course as "interns".

Preparing for the ENM complementary entrance examinations

Complementary recruitment examinations: essential information

• Probationary training, paid (length of professional experience taken into account), over 7 to 9 months (decided by the examining board)
• Applicants must be aged at least 35 years (grade 2) and 50 years (grade 1)
• They must have a qualification corresponding to 4 years of higher education
• They must have at least 7 years (grade 2) or 15 years (grade 1) of professional experience in a legal, administrative, economic or social field that has provided them with experience particularly relevant to a career in the judiciary.

ENM complementary recruitment examination admission requirements

The complementary recruitment examinations in figures

The number of places available is decided by the Ministry for Justice.

Papers and programmes

The complementary examinations consist of:

• 3 eligibility papers followed by 2 admission papers for grade 2;
• 3 eligibility papers followed by 2 admission papers for grade 1.

What does the training at the ENM consist of?

The training for "interns” who have come in via the complementary recruitment examination does not provide training in the law, but in the job of being a judge or prosecutor and the professional techniques that it requires, through:

• 1 month's practical teaching at the ENM after e-training courses (exchanges with serving judges and prosecutors, simulations of hearings, situation games, etc.);
• 6 to 8 months of internships with courts during which, starting on the first day, trainees find themselves making decisions under the responsibility of an internship supervisor.

The training period is also a probationary period: the trainee judges and prosecutors are assessed during their 4-month practical internship in a court. They must be declared fit to practise as judges and prosecutors (see paragraph "probationary assessment") before they begin a 2-month specialisation for the type of post they have chosen (see below).
Trainees are paid during the course.

What posts are available in the judiciary?

On completion of their training, grade 2 trainees who have come in via the complementary recruitment examination can become a judge or deputy public prosecutor (grade 2) and a vice-president or vice-prosecutor (grade 1). They do not have access to posts as specialised sitting judges (investigating judge, juvenile judge, etc.) for their first posting, but these become accessible subsequently.