Croatia - Judicial Academy - EJTN

Judicial Academy

The Judicial Academy (JA) was established in 2004 as an institute within the Ministry of Justice in charge of initial and continuous judicial training. It obtained the status of a public institution independent of the Ministry of Justice with the entering into force of the Judicial Academy Act on 1 January 2010.

The Croatian Judicial Academy is the central national judicial training institution in charge of the following:

• Training of trainees in judicial bodies (as a preparation for the Bar Exam);
• Initial training of future judges and state attorneys (i.e. attendants of the State School for Judicial Officials which is an integral part of the Judicial Academy);
• Continuous judicial training of judges and state attorneys;
• Training of judicial advisors;
• Training of clerks in the judiciary; and
• Training of expert witnesses, court interpreters and other stakeholders in court proceedings.

Other activities of the Academy include international and project cooperation. In addition to the training sessions held at its headquarters in Zagreb, the Academy organises training activities in its regional centres located at the county courts (second-instance courts) of Split, Rijeka, Osijek and Varaždin.

The Academy is governed by the Steering Committee, composed of seven members (i.e. judges and state attorneys of the highest levels of the judiciary, a law professor and a representative of the JA staff). The Steering Committee makes all the strategic decisions on the functioning of the Academy and adopts the JA Annual Judicial Training Programme upon the proposal of the Programme Council. The Programme Council is the expert body of the Judicial Academy constituted of 13 members (judges, state attorneys, law professors and a representative of the Ministry of Justice and Administration). In addition to drafting the annual programme, the Programme Council selects the JA training material authors and trainers upon a public call published on the JA website. The Academy is managed by the Director and run by a staff of up to 25 employees.