The European Judicial Training Network (EJTN) is honoured to have organized the first edition of the judges@europe forum, held face-to-face on 5–7 May 2022 at the Siracusa International Institute for Criminal Justice and Human Rights in Siracusa, Italy.

The forum was built upon the Council Conclusions “Boosting Training of Justice Professionals” of 8 March 2021 calling the European Commission to support the existing European networks to promote and enhance the dialogue among Judges of the European Union.

Under the impetus of representatives of EJTN Members, the programme benefited from the expertise of representatives of the Court of Justice of the European Union, European Court of Human Rights, Association of European Administrative Judges, European Networks of Councils for the Judiciary, and Magistrats européens pour la démocratie et les libertés.

EJTN wishes to acknowledge their contributions to the success of this pilot initiative.

Organised in a secure and confidential forum, the programme furthered 38 judges to combine theoretical approach on European jurisprudence with hands-on practical methods through workshop sessions and peer consultation on real life cases, compared analysis of the characteristics of the Rule of Law using authentic judicial contexts, exchanges of experiences and best practices.

They addressed issues such as the impact on the integrity and independence of the judiciary, the application of self-empowerment and resilience techniques to promote and protect judges from the potential negative effects of stressors, what can the individual judge do to protect the Rule of Law.

EJTN hopes to sustain this initiative beyond this forum and continue to offer a familiar and trusting framework to enable peers networking across Member States for ongoing support and dialogue.