France - National School for the Judiciary - EJTN

Founded in 1958, the National School for the Judiciary (ENM) trains the magistrates of today and tomorrow, the professionals who perform judicial functions and the members of the legal team and court staff. It acts as a bridge between know-how and interpersonal skills, between magistrates and those involved in justice and the law, and between the practice of justice and the understanding of society.

ENM has five main missions:

1. Organising competitive examinations to recruit future magistrates and providing initial and continuing training for magistrates in the French judiciary.
2. The training for people who do not belong to the judiciary and who are called upon either to exercise judicial functions in the judiciary or to contribute closely to judicial activity.
3. Initial and continuing training for magistrates and future magistrates from foreign countries.
4. European and international cooperation, in particular through the dissemination of legal and judicial knowledge and the development of foreign judicial systems.
5. Research, particularly in the field of comparative judicial practice. These missions are divided into two main departments, one at the School’s head office in Bordeaux and the other in Paris.

To fulfil its missions, ENM has four sites spread between Bordeaux and Paris.

The recruitment, initial training and research departments, as well as the general secretariat and the principal’s office, are located at the Bordeaux site, while the sub-directorates for continuing education, international affairs and specialised professional training are located in Paris.

In 2024, the school welcomed the largest class in its history, with 470 Court auditors undergoing initial training (31 months – 11 months at the school and 20 months in courts, in law firms, with investigators, private companies, public administrations, etc.). In order to contribute to equal opportunities and a better representation of the social body, seven Talents ENM preparatory classes welcome and train for free more than 110 scholarship students in Paris, Bordeaux, Douai, Lyon, Orléans, Besançon and Limoges.

The school also trains more than 6,000 judges and prosecutors each year as part of its continuing education programme. The aim of this continuing education is to keep pace with legislative and judicial developments and the modernisation of the judicial institution. All professional judges and prosecutors are entitled to at least five days’ training a year. The current programme offers more than 600 continuing training courses a year, including sessions, courses in institutions or companies, seminars on professional practices, etc.