Practical Training and Workshops

In so doing, ERA was honoured to cooperate with various national judicial schools (the Slovenian Judicial Training Centre, the Latvian Judicial Training Centre, the Austrian Federal Ministry of Justice, the Romanian National Institute of Magistracy and the Greek National School of Judiciary), national bar associations (the Warsaw Bar Association, the Barcelona Bar Association and the Milan Bar Association) and universities (University College Dublin). In order to make the information provided at the seminars available to an even wider audience, an extensive and multilingual online documentation package (including materials and resources such as PowerPoint presentations, e-learning courses and e-presentations) of the two series can be accessed for free on the special ERA subsites. Since the beginning of ERA’s cooperation with the European Commission in the framework of these two series, the first of which has run since 2003, ERA has contributed to the training of over 10,000 legal professionals in the field of EU equality law.

In 2021, ERA was awarded – for the third time in a row – a four-year service contract to continue a major project on behalf of the European Commission’s DG Environment entitled "Cooperation with National Judges in the Field of EU Environmental Law". The initiative aims to develop training modules on various topics of EU environmental law as well as to organise workshops for judges. In 2023, ERA implemented ten events in the framework of these specific contracts: two general webinars on EU water legislation, one in French and one in German; two tailor-made webinars on EU water legislation in the respective national languages, one for Spain and one for Poland; one general webinar on EU waste legislation and combating waste crime, in English; two workshops on EU waste legislation and combating waste crime, in English, held in Lisbon and in Sofia; two tailor-made workshops on EU and national waste legislation and combating waste crime in the respective national languages, one for Romania and one for Greece; and one tailor-made workshop on access to justice in environmental matters for Polish judges, in Polish.

In January 2023, ERA started a new training project for court staff and bailiffs in partnership with the European Judicial Training Network (EJTN), the Belgian Judicial Training Institute (IGO-IFJ), the Bulgarian National Institute of Justice (NIJ), the Romanian National School of Clerks (NSC) and with the support of 13 national judicial training institutions and the European Union of Judicial Officers (UEHJ). Building on the knowledge and experience gained from the implementation of previous court staff training projects, the project consortium led by ERA tackled the deficiencies of court staff and bailiffs’ training by adopting a modern and practical approach to EU judicial training and by developing coherent and innovative training packages for future use. The activities dealt with EU civil and criminal law matters as well as digitalisation. To better accommodate the various training needs of the target groups, reflecting different levels of prior knowledge and experience in applying EU instruments, the legal seminars were offered at both basic and advanced level. Some activities offered legal English language training parallel to legal training thus enhancing the linguistic skills of court staff and bailiffs in legal areas with added practical value. The events were offered in face-to-face, hybrid and online formats. The project also delivered on its promise to create new materials, namely an interactive and stand-alone e-tool for legal English in criminal law matters with the aim of improving the level of English in this field of law. In the first year of the project lifetime 213 court staff and bailiffs have already benefited from this project that will run until 2025.

In 2023, ERA started the second edition of an advanced training project for court coordinators in European law with the support of EJTN and the judicial training institutes of Bulgaria, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania and Spain. The project focuses on areas with particular relevance for these senior judges with advanced knowledge of EU law, namely the application of EU law, the preliminary ruling procedure and fundamental rights (including the rule of law). Within the project, ERA intends to train 235 court coordinators and 30 judicial trainers from the EU Member States. They will receive advanced practical training and enhance their knowledge and competence in the application of EU law. Moreover, as they act as multipliers in their jurisdictions, they will be able to pass on the knowledge acquired. Another aim of this project is to provide a platform for the exchange of information, knowledge and best practice; create close contacts among court coordinators from the Member States that have active networks; and encourage other judiciaries to create such a network.