European Conference at the French National School of Court Clerks

This event was in the framework of the "study on the state of play of court staff training in EU law and promotion of cooperation between court staff training providers at EU level".

The UIHJ, member of the steering committee of the project, was represented by Françoise Andrieux, general secretary of the UIHJ, who participated in two workshops during the work of these two days.

The project is led by the European Institute of Public Administration (EIPA), with various partners, including the Saxon Department of Justice and European Affairs (Germany), Justice Coopération Internationale (involving the French National School of Court Clerks (ENG) and the National Chamber of Judicial Officers of France), the Centre of Legal Studies of Spain, the Scottish Courts Service, the National School of Judges and Prosecutors of Poland, in association with the European Union of Court Clerks.

The main objectives of the conference were to discuss issues such as:
- Integration of EU Law into training activities;
- Developing interesting and efficient e-learning tools;
- Developing and sharing common training contents on EU Law;
- Organising cross-border training activities and exchanges; and
- Developing recommendations for a strategy for support at national and/or EU levels.

The event was opened by Christiane Taubira, Minister of Justice of France. In her speech, Mrs Taubira sent a message of encouragement and support to participants. Also present were Jean-François Beynel, Director of Court Services (France), Joaquim Silguero, Secretary General of the Ministry of Justice of Spain, Stéphane Hardouin, director of ENG and Heiko Wagner, representing the European Commission.

The workshops covered the following topics:
- Developing training through new technologies;
- Analysing the law needs the EU to build a suitable offer;
- Promoting cross-border cooperation;
- Sharing linguistic resources in legal vocabulary.

Exchanges there were rich and fruitful. In his closing speech, Stéphane Hardouin noted that the conference was a first step to encourage the integration of the European perspective in the training of court staff and cooperation between training structures under the Stockholm Programme.

But the conclusion probably belongs to Gandhi, quoted by Heiko Wagner: "Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever"...