REPORT ON THE EXCHANGE AND SUMMARY

Transcription

1 Réseau Européen de Formation Judiciaire European Judicial Training Network REPORT ON THE EXCHANGE AND SUMMARY Avec le soutien de l Union européenne With the support of the European Union Instructions: 1. The report must be sent to the EJTN (exchange@ejtn.eu) within one month after the exchange. 2. Please use the template below to write your report (at least 4 pages). 3. The report must be filled in English or French. If not possible, the report could be written in another language but the summary must be in English or French. 4. Please read the guidelines for drafting the report (in Annex). Feel free to add any other relevant information in your report. 5. The summary (1-2 pages) shall contain a synthesis of the most important information of the report. 6. If you agree for your report and/or summary to be published on the EJTN website, please tick the relevant box below. Identification of the participant Name First name: Nationality: italian Functions: civil judge- decentralized trainer Length of service: 30 yars Identification of the exchange Hosting jurisdiction/institution: Justizakademie City: Recklinghausen Country: Germany Dates of the exchange: 14/ Type of exchange: one to one exchange X group exchange X general exchange specialized exchange (please specify : ) Authorization of publication I undersigned hereby authorize the publication of this report and/or summary on the website of the European Judicial Training Network. In Padova On April 16th 2010 Réseau Européen de Formation Judiciaire/European Judicial Training Network (aisbl)

2 REPORT The Justizakademie and the facilities of the School. My exchange program in the Justizakademie in Recklinghausen, as judicial trainer at the decentralised level, took place from March 15 th to the March 20 th I was hosted in the Gustv Heienmann Hause which is located near downtown Recklinhausen; the building includes facilities for 88 guests. At evening an internal little pub is open, with TV (there is no television in the rooms), and a little bowling room. A guest could also use the football field and the volleyball field that are outside. The School consists of an elegant and pleasant building, equipped with technical furnishing, technical spaces, large conference rooms and smaller rooms available for work in small groups and role- playing exercise, and a library. The contents of the meeting with the board and the responsible of Programs Meeting on practical themes. I participated initially to a meeting of the Board in which practical problems were discussed, referred to the necessity to carry out externally part of the seminars, due to the lack of spaces in the School and the increasing number of requested events; reduction of financial support from the Ministry of Justice; a new Web-formula; to modifications in the way of applying to seminars; introduction of e-learning courses. Meetings on Judicial themes: the enrolment and training of judges. In other meetings I learned the outline of the German legal system, in particular of the enrolment (and training) of judges. I have experienced the similarities and the differences in the selection and training system with the Italian system, in which a previous concur is followed by training period of the nominated young judges. On the contrary, in Germany the training precedes the nomination. law students, after studying law for approximately 4 or 5 years at the University, take the First State Examination (each State provides its own detailed legislation for its organisation, but they recognise each other s examination as equivalent). Those who have passed the First State examination normally undertake the second phase of legal education, which is directed towards practical legal training (the Rectsreferendarzeit). This trainee-ship period has the supervision of the Ministry of Justice (which organise the teaching), and lasts two years. This second stage of the legal career is common to aspirant lawyers, judges and academics. The Rechtreferendare attend theoretical classes and are also involved in practical training that completes the two-years course of study before the Second State Examination that normally, consists of both a written and an oral part, on various subjects. Judges are selected from the very best of those who pass the Second State Examination (the other can practise as lawyers). New appointed judges must attend intensive courses and sit with an experienced judge for practical training. In the Lands Tribunals (mainly in the smaller ones) informal methods of training are adopted, relying on personal communication and the training process is largely informal; larger Tribunals have a more formal internal training system. Experienced judges attend annual training seminars run by judicial Schools, which also provide refreshing courses.

3 The role of the Justizackademie in the German judicial training-system. In following meetings with the members of the Board I learned the role of the Justizackademie in the German judicial training-system and the contents and modalities of the training, which is also different from the Italian organisation, based, at central level, on the activity of a special committee in the judges supervisor organ, the Consiglio Superiore della Magistratura (C.S.M.) and on the activity of decentralised trainer at the decentralised level. Created in 1988, the Justizakademie of Nordrehin-Westfalen has developed an experience in judicial education to improve judicial competence and the standards and practices of the courts of the region: in 2009, seminars were organized for the North-Westfalien district, in which people work in the judiciary system; the number of participants was, in 2009, around people. The Justizakademie organizes initial training for student judges and the following training for judges, prosecutors and other court experts. While the main School, situated in Trier, provides courses exclusively for judges, the Justizakademie in Recklinghausen provides training also for workers in other posts in the judicial services and collateral technical fields (administrative officers and employee, experts in the Tribunal, social assistants, psychologists etc). The contents and modalities of the training. Seminars include general topics (in substantial and procedural law), specialised training and improvement of professional skills (examining witnesses, organising specific trials, video examinations and similar) organisation and information technologies, new developments. The themes consist not only in generic and specific juridical subjects but also in practical matters (such as work techniques, understanding of the role and the office of the judge, psycological aspects of communicating with litigants and lawyers, planning of trials, examining witness and weighing the evidence, handling conflicts, techniques of speech, communication-systems applied to jurisdiction etc.). Seminars dealing about general subjects and basic themes are repeated every year, and also the teachers for the generic training are generally the same. New teachers apply directly to the Justizakademie, but sometimes new teachers are requested for specific subjects. Participation is voluntary with the exception of training programs for newly appointed junior judges, which are compulsory, aiming to enable participants to acquire the standard skills necessary for working as judges or prosecutors. Judges can choose the training offers from the program of the Academy (and partly of the other Judicial Schools) among all seminars, whose program is distributed in advance to each judge and is available on the Internet. The annual program is also distributed to the Presidents of Tribunal. If there are not enough places, the Presidents will have to select the participants (taking in consideration the single needs of each applicant and the former participation at other seminars). General and specialised training is offered to judges (and other court staff) who have recently changed functions in order to offer a good support to the ones who start to work in different and new fields. Extra training is also offered when there is a change in legislation requiring practising in new developments. The Academy participates to the international cooperation within the European Judicial Training Network (EJTN) and organizes international seminars (during my stay, an international seminar on European Union Law was hold, to which I participated. I also attended some classes of two other

4 seminars, one for social assistants and one for judicial assistants, which were held in the School at the same time). The average duration of each seminar is 3 to 5 days, but there are also shorter training sessions and daily seminars (usually on specific subjects). Teachers use all kind of training methods, from traditional lectures to workshops, audiovisuals and roleplaying. The daily schedule is normally from 9 to 12 and from 14 to 18 with a coffee break. Meals are served in the cafeteria of the Academy. The loan for University professors, lawyers and other experts is. 50,00 for each hour up to a maximum of. 900,00 for a whole day of teaching. Judges who hold conferences have no loan. After each seminar the participants have to fill a questionnaire with an evaluation of the different aspects of the program. Long term evaluation are made for some seminars whose results can be evaluated after a certain time (for instance concerning organisation and communication skills). The short and medium term evaluations are taken into consideration for further planning in the annual program conference, where the planning for future events is made. Each participant gets a certification describing the training program, that can be considered among the criteria for a promotion. The various phase in the organisation of the annual program. In a third meeting with the Responsible for training programs I learned the necessary steps for organising the training calendar, which covers a period of about two years. To make an example, referred to the program of 2011 (and roughly speaking), the organisation process follows this schedule: - November 2009: first contact with the Ministry of Justice to identify the training needs for 2011; - January 2010: the Ministry, that follows mainly the general training of judges, communicate a provisory plan, that can be modified in case of particular events (for instance in case of new legislation); - April 2010: meeting with the Tribunal Presidents (or other representatives), who take care of the specific training, according to the different areas of law that they deal. The Presidents have the opportunity to offer suggestions for training issues and improvement in training provision; - May 2010: a generic program is settled down on the basis of the results of the consultation and of the analyses of the responses, considering both the generic and the specific needs of training, and also considering themes not yet discussed or new development or technical challenges; - June 2010: the program is verified and it is illustrated to the Tribunal Presidents for approval; - July 2010: the calendar of all the events is settled down, and a budget is made; - September 2010: final approval of the calendar. - October 2010: the 2011 program is available in an on line catalogue and on a booklet (the brochure will be eliminated, because of the costs and because the increasing use of Internet). The Justizakademie is working to promote cross-region further training of judges from all branches of jurisdiction in each special area together with the other German main schools, and the program of the School in Trier (for South Germany), Wustrau (for Nord-east Germany) and Recklinghausen Justizackademie for Nord-west-Germany) is annually available both on Internet and in a booklet. My experience in the seminars. \

5 The seminar about European legislation lasted five days and was hold with frontal lectures and debates. The subjects were European Institutions, commercial right, problems and praxis in the Union; perspective on the enlargement of the Union; German concurrence legislation and the challenge of European reforms. In the third day of the seminar we also experienced a role-play class, consisting of simulating a session of the European Parliament in which the admission in the European Union of Turkey, Macedonia and Albania was discussed (each one of us had a different role, such as the member of a party, the speaker of a country, a journalist etc.). It was very useful to release the stress of the conferences and also to a better acquaintance and communication among the participants. The other seminars (one for social assistances and one for judicial assistances) dealt with judicial and practical problems of their competences. Other activities in the Justizakademie: last, but not least, the Justiakademie holds frequently art exposures (during my stage there were a painting exhibition and a sculpture exhibition). It also organises each year a Wealth Day during which conferences and discussions about health and security on the work are discussed ( people participate every year to this meeting ). Twice a month, a masseur is also available for every worker in the School who needs physical assistance. These opportunities, which consider different aspects of life, besides the positive and massive judicial training, together with the friendly and nice atmosphere of the School, make the Justizckademy of Recklinghausen a very special place for judicial training and gave me a very useful and pleasant exchange. It was a successful experience that I would recommend to my collegues. I learned, indeed, a lot during my exchange, having a view on a different training system (at which the Italian Government is actually looking, as a part of the reform of our judicial system) and having a practical training experience. Since a collegue from Portugal shared the exchange with me, I had the opportunity to compare the german and italian system also with the judicial training methods adopted in Portugal, which are very similar to the german ones. I appreciated the seminar on European right and the modalities of the teaching, that allowed me to learn more about European legislation, but also to acquire some knowledge on German commercial law. What I learned will be useful not only for my general culture but also for my practical activity as a decentralised trainer.

6 SUMMARY Description of the Justizakademie and the facilities of the School. The problems discussed in a reunion of the Board. The contents of other meetings with the Responsible of Program: - the German system of judges nomination and training ; -the methods and modality of the training system in the Justizakademie ; - the the necessary steps in the organisation of the annual program. My experience in the seminars in the justizakademie Other activities in the Justizakademie.

7 ANNEX GUIDELINES FOR DRAFTING THE REPORT I- Programme of the exchange Institutions you have visited, hearings, seminars/conferences you have attended, judges/prosecutors and other judicial staff you have met The aim here is not to detail each of the activities but to give an overview of the contents of the exchange. If you have received a programme from the hosting institution, please provide a copy. II- The hosting institution Brief description of the hosting institution, its role within the court organisation of the host country, how it is functioning III- The law of the host country With regard to the activities you took part in during the exchange, please develop one aspect of the host country s national law that you were particularly interested in. IV- The comparative law aspect in your exchange What main similarities and differences could you observe between your own country and your host country in terms of organisation and judicial practice, substantial law..? Please develop. V- The European aspect of your exchange Did you have the opportunity to observe the implementation or references to Community instruments, the European Convention of Human Rights, judicial cooperation instruments? Please develop. VI- The benefits of the exchange What were the benefits of your exchange? How can these benefits be useful in your judicial practice? Do you think your colleagues could benefit of the knowledge you acquired during your exchange? How? VII- Suggestions In your opinion, what aspects of the Exchange Programme could be improved? How?