Cyprus - Judicial Training School - EJTN

The Cyprus Judicial Training School was officially established following the adoption of Law 101(I)/2020 which provides for its establishment and operation. It is based in Nicosia at the premises of the Supreme Court. It operates under its Director who is appointed by the President of the Supreme Court following consultation with the other Members of the Supreme Court, and is supervised by the School’s Council.

The main objectives set by the Cyprus Judicial Training School since its establishment are, primarily to promote and design training programs that respond to Judges’ current needs, and include not only training programmes on substantive, EU and procedural law, but also training programs for the development of judicial skills, case management skills and professional development for Judges in general. Furthermore, one of the School’s principal objectives is to protect and promote judicial independence, judicial ethics and conduct, within the framework of judicial training.

Whilst the School contributes significantly to the continuous and lifelong training of judges, emphasis is also placed on initial training of judges within their first two years of appointment. The School strives to provide judges with the essential judicial skills and competencies that are necessary in their new role as judges.

The training provided by the School is based on the Judicial Training Principles, which have been documented and adopted by the European Judicial Training Network (EJTN). The trainers and facilitators in each seminar consist of Cypriot trainer judges who have undergone special training, as well as expert judges from abroad.

In addition to training programs designed for Judges, the Cyprus Judicial Training School also undertakes the training of legal officers, registrars and court staff in general.

The School has also developed a wide network of cooperation with international organizations and institutions, such as the European Judicial Training Network (EJTN) of which it is a member, the Council of Europe and in particular with the Human Rights Education for Legal Professionals (HELP), the Judicial College of England, the Academy of European Law (ERA), the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA) and other organizations focusing on judicial training.

Since becoming a Member of EJTN, the School promotes training on European level, encourages participation of judges in training abroad and hosts EU training nationally, aiming at promoting uniformity and judicial cooperation.

The vision and goals of the Cyprus Judicial Training School is to continuously provide professional training of a high level to all judges, thus contributing to the creation of an efficient judiciary and promoting the rule of law.