Judges in Europe

How are judges chosen in other European countries? How are they trained? How are they evaluated? How are they promoted? What can Portugal learn from these countries' models? Find the answer to these and other questions in this study by Fundação Francisco Manuel dos Santos.

01 October 2014

3 min

Team

Carlos Gómez Ligüerre

Author

Judges in Europe – Training, selection, promotion and evaluation

In the area of justice and law, the training, selection, promotion and evaluation of judges has long been a controversial topic, unfortunately immersed in a more formal and technical discourse, not given to more practical and accessible reflections.

In this study by Fundação Francisco Manuel dos Santos, Professor Carlos Gómez Ligüerre presents an extensive study of different justice systems in European countries (Spain, France, Italy, Germany, England, the Netherlands, the Scandinavian countries and the United Kingdom) and the way these eight jurisdictions deal with these issues, comparing those that choose to have non-legal professionals in the administration of justice to those that, on the other hand, require specific training in the area of law. The study provides a practical and useful survey of the mechanisms for training and selecting magistrates, including the means of evaluating their functions and career development in these eight realities, thus making it possible to put the Portuguese case into context.

The study thus addresses a series of questions about the reality of these eight countries, such as:

their respective judicial systems
the organisation of each of these systems
the roles of judges in each of these systems
the training of judges in each of these systems
the selection of judges in each of these systems
the evaluation of judges in each of these systems
the promotion of judges in each of these systems.

Through this work, FFMS seeks to contribute to a deeper understanding of a reality that has been insufficiently researched and discussed and to considered and serious debate on the future of the judiciary in Portugal.

Most of the legal systems analysed have opted for what is called the "bureaucratic model", i.e. they include their judges in the structure of civil servants and their appointment presupposes the granting of a professional and remunerative status integrated into the general state budget. Countries that follow this model require judges to devote themselves exclusively to legal work. Only Norway and the jurisdictions of the United Kingdom (England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland) adopt a "professional model", according to which access to the judiciary is by routes other than those generally required for access to the civil service.

Team

Carlos Gómez Ligüerre

Author

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