Foreign judges and prosecutors

The training courses developed by the ENM that are open to foreign judges and prosecutors aim, beyond the judicial theme they deal with, to facilitate the sharing of professional practices, with a view to the necessary creation of a shared judicial culture. Discovering a foreign judicial system and the exchanges between practitioners can also help participants to see their own system in a different light.

Sessions, seminars and annual courses

In-service training – 2 days to 2 months
Each year a catalogue of about fifty different training sessions and courses is offered to foreign judges and prosecutors. These are either training courses intended mainly for French judges and prosecutors which foreign counterparts can join on an immersion basis, or training courses designed for judges and prosecutors from different countries focused on a common problem. Justice and forensic medicine, international cooperation, cybercrime or the judicial handling of terrorism are among the topics covered.

The initial training course – 10 months
For many years, the ENM has offered foreign trainee judges and prosecutors the chance to follow an initial training cycle in France, alongside French trainee judges and prosecutors. The foreign trainees receive all the same theoretical training at the ENM in Bordeaux, as well as doing some of the internships in courts and with partners of the justice system. They take all the assessment examinations, except the ranking examination, to validate their training. Admission to this cycle is selective, and foreign trainees must take an examination to ensure they have the requisite legal knowledge and a good enough command of French before being accepted.

European and international seminars

Every year, about thirty events lasting from two days to one month are organised by the International Department at the request of foreign countries and as part of projects co-funded by the European Commission. Juvenile delinquency, cross-border divorce, respect for fundamental rights in police custody, and the judicial response to terrorism are just some of the topics covered recently.

Custom training courses

The ENM's International Department is able to organise tailored training programmes for countries with specific needs. The dedicated teams at the School have already organised courses on topics as varied as an introduction to the French justice system, the management of major sporting events, the enforcement of civil rulings, instructional engineering, the structure of the judicial authority in France or judicial capacity building for judicial training institutes. These sessions may be held either in France or in the country concerned.

The ENM is also able to organise an initial training cycle in France specially for trainee judges and prosecutors from countries that do not have their own judicial training institute. This is the case for Luxembourg’s future judges and prosecutors, who have been trained at the ENM for over ten years.