Detailed Data

Methodology

Data Collection and Coherence 

This interactive report evaluates the participation of targeted justice professionals in training activities, focused on EU law, non-legal skills and language skills. The findings are based on data collected through dedicated online surveys. 

From 2021-2024, the data for the report has been provided by: 

• The European Judicial Training Network (EJTN) for  
  judges, prosecutors and court staff and prosecutors’ office staff;
• Member States authorities for court staff and prosecutors’ office staff;
• The Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE) and  
  the European Lawyers Foundation (ELF) for lawyers;
• The European Union of Bailiffs (UEHJ) and the European Bailiffs' Foundation (EUBF) for bailiffs;
• Notaries of Europe (CNUE) for notaries;
• The Academy of European Law (ERA), the European Institute of Public Administration (EIPA);
• The European Patent Office (EPO), the European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA), European Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) and the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Training (CEPOL) as regards their courses on EU law for justice professionals;
• The Commission Directorates‑General managing funds for European judicial training activities. 

Over the years, contributions have increased from all professions. However, still both the quantity and quality of contributions require improvement. Reported variations in training on EU law may sometimes be linked to challenges in data collection from national authorities. Fluctuations in participation levels for a given Member State or profession could reflect actual participation rates or, in some instances, data gaps. In some cases, the availability of data is limited to specific training providers, regions, or categories of professionals. 

If not based on data collection flaws, participation rates can also vary across justice professions and countries, reflecting differing training needs or available training opportunities. While training requirements for EU law differ among professions, the report suggests that additional training may be necessary for some professions in certain Member States. This is particularly relevant when it comes to digitalisation and IT skills, given the challenges faced by national systems and the evolving training needs of justice professionals. 

Participation

Please note: The number of participants in training activities may not correspond to the number of individuals trained, since the same person may have taken part in more than one training activity.  

The numbers of professionals (as used for calculating the percentages) and the definitions of the professions were taken from the 2024 CEPEJ Evaluation report on European judicial systems (data 2022), except for court and prosecutors’ office staff. For court and prosecutors’ office staff in need of training on EU law, the definition as well as the total number of such professionals in the EU Member States, please refer to the Study on the Training Needs of Court Staff on EU Law in the EU.  

The ratio of professionals participating in continuing training activities on EU law (as a proportion of professionals by profession) is approximately:  

• 49.5 % of all EU judges,
• 36.3 % of all EU prosecutors,
• 7.5 % of all EU court staff and prosecution’ office staff in need of EU law training,
• 5.4 % of all EU lawyers in private practice,
• 7.8 % of all EU bailiffs and
• 45.7 % of all EU notaries. 

Participation by Profession broken down by Member State

The percentage of justice professionals, participating in initial or continuing training on EU law, varies considerably among Member States.  

Below, we report on participation in training by country for judges, prosecutors, court and prosecutors’ office staff, lawyers, notaries and bailiffs (professions for which we received data from most Member States and Western Balkan countries) for both initial and continuing training activities.  

For the sake of completeness, we show participation in absolute numbers as well as percentages of all members of the profession[*] in a year-to-year comparison. Due to strong fluctuations in the magnitude of the numbers between Member States, the graphs, visualising the absolute numbers are depicted on a logarithmic scale (base 10). 

[*] For Court and prosecutors’ office staff, the total number of those in need of training on EU law as defined in the Study on the Training Needs of Court Staff on EU Law in the EU.  

Participation of Judges and Prosecutors in Training on EU Law by Member State

The following graphs show the participation of judges and prosecutors in initial and continuing training on EU law in separate tables for an easier comparison.  

According to the strategy 2021-2024, continuing training on EU law should yearly reach 65% of judges and prosecutors. This quantitative objective is currently only reached by 10 out of the 27 EU Member States for judges and 4 out of 27 EU Member States for prosecutors. 

Member States with only a few judges and prosecutors can achieve high percentages of trained professionals by organising a few activities only. For the same reason, percentages in these Member States can easily change from one year to the next, since small differences in absolute numbers cause significant percentage changes.  

Overall, participation levels in continuing training activities remain uneven across the EU. While some Member States have recorded notable increases in participation compared to 2023, others show persistently low engagement rates. 

Judges

When compared to previous years, the participation of judges in training activities on EU law has generally increased. Continuing the trend observed in earlier years, judges in 2024 have shown a preference for face-to-face training, with the overall number of such sessions increasing in most Member States compared to 2023. Nevertheless, also in 2024, a full comparative analysis remains challenging due to incomplete or unavailable data for several countries. 

Overall, participation levels in continuing training activities remain uneven across the EU. While some Member States have recorded notable increases in participation compared to 2023, others show persistently low engagement rates.  

According to the strategy 2021-2024, continuing training on EU law should yearly reach 65% of judges and prosecutors. This quantitative objective has in 2024 only been reached by 10 out of the 27 EU Member States. Please note that percentages above 100 are due to the same judges participating in several training activities throughout the year. A bias to be noted is that the numbers are particularly high for countries with fewer judges, that have reported several training activities per judge.  

Prosecutors

When comparing the data from previous years, the participation of prosecutors in EU law training activities shows a notable decline between 2022 and 2024, decreasing from 50.8% to 36.3%. Although it is difficult to provide an exact assessment of overall participation across all Member States due to incomplete or missing data, the available information indicates that face-to-face training remains the predominant mode of participation in most Member States. Nonetheless, participation levels vary widely across countries and are influenced by national judicial training systems and reporting practices. 

According to the strategy 2021-2024, continuing training on EU law should yearly reach 65% of prosecutors. This quantitative objective is in 2024 only reached by 4 out of the 27 EU Member States. 

Lawyers

Participation of Lawyers in Training on EU Law by Member State

From 2021 until 2024, the data shows a continuing decrease in the number of lawyers participating in training on EU law that stabilises from 2022 at around 5%. The lack of data from lawyers’ private training providers remains an issue, meaning that we might only have a partial picture. Private training providers (not connected to bars) are not reflected in this report, even though in some Member States, lawyers significantly rely on them. For some Member States, data was available only for certain regions or bars or a certain type of lawyers. Nevertheless, the report shows considerable improvements since 2011.

Based on the available figures, 2024 records a comparable level of face-to-face participation to 2023, accompanied by a consistent and significant engagement in online training activities. Again, as for other professional groups, the limited availability of data from several Member States prevents a comprehensive and fully accurate assessment of the situation. 

According to the strategy 2021-2024, continuing training on EU law should reach 15% of all EU lawyers yearly. In 2024, this objective was only reached in 7 out of 25 Member States for which we received an answer.

Notaries

Participation of Notaries in Training on EU Law by Member State

This report uses the following definition of ‘notary’: ‘a legal official who has been entrusted by the public authority with the safeguarding of the freedom of consent and the protection of the rightful interests of individuals’[*]. Depending on the system of the Member State in question, the notary can be private or public, with different competences and functions. In less than half of the Member States for which we received data, initial training for notaries does not exist.  

Surpassing the 30% objectives set in the strategy, in 2024, notaries have reached their peak of 45.7% trained on EU law. Regarding the continuing training, we can observe a trend of growing numbers of participants in face-to-face continuing training on EU law. According to the quantitative objective, set by the strategy 2021-2024, continuing training on EU law should reach 30% of all EU notaries yearly. In 2024, 14 out of the responding 25 Member States have reached this objective.

[*] European Commission for the efficiency of justice (CEPEJ), Explanatory note to the scheme for evaluating judicial systems 2018-2020 Cycle, CEPEJ (2018)17, Council of Europe, March 2019. 

Court and Prosecutors’ Office

Participation of Court and Prosecutors’ Office Staff in Training on EU Law by Member State

Member States have different types of court and prosecutors’ office staff. They range from court wardens and technical staff to judges' assistants and partially independent clerks taking judicial decisions, in particular in registers and the execution of judgments. This diversity entails a wide variety of training needs on EU law. This report monitors and refers only to court and prosecutors’ office staff, whose tasks require or may require the application of EU law as defined in the Study on the Training Needs of Court Staff on EU Law in the EU[1]. 

As the roles and training schemes of court and prosecutors’ office staff differ largely among Member States, the collection of data has proven to be complex. The lack of data on court and prosecutors’ office staff remains a challenge. 

Court staff and prosecutor’s office Staff’s participation in EU law training has decreased to 7.5% in 2024, compared to 9.6% in 2023. 

Regarding initial training participation of this group of justice professionals, there seems to be a preference for face-to-face training, with some exceptions (e.g., HU and AT with higher percentages of participation in online training). 

In continuing training, the participation is spread all over the Member States almost equally, with a notable preference for face-to-face training in most of the territories, yet some justice professionals have preferred online training sessions for 2023 and 2024. 

According to the 2021-2024 strategy, continuing training on EU law should yearly reach 15% of all EU court and prosecutors’ office staff. With 10 out of the 23 responding Member States in 2024, this objective is not yet reached.

Bailiffs

Participation of Bailiffs in Training on EU Law by Member State

The professional status and backgrounds (public officials/private officials) and competencies (enforcement/service of documents) of judicial officers and bailiffs differ, depending on the Member State. They are considered as court staff in roughly a third of the EU Member States. 

Generally, bailiffs remain at a low participation rate of 7.8% in 2024, as compared to 7.2% in 2023. They have shown preferences for face-to-face training activities in most of the Member States, with some exceptions, such as EL, LV, LT, PL and FI, where participation rates in online training activities were higher. As the data concerning initial training of bailiffs received was marginal, it is not presented. 

According to the strategy 2021-2024, continuing training on EU law should each year reach 20% of bailiffs. 11 countries reached the quantitative objective, 8 of the 22 responding EU Member States and 3 Western Balkan countries. 

Prison and Probation Officers

Prison and probation officers may be concerned by EU law and EU policies in their daily tasks and are therefore in need of relevant specialised training. With the European Judicial Training Strategy for 2021-2024, the European Commission acknowledges the importance of training of prison and probation officers on EU law and monitors the EU law related training of prison and probation staff. 

The data collection for prison and probation staff shows strong fluctuations over the years. Whereas in 2023, only 6 out of the 27 EU Member States replied to the dedicated questionnaire (reflecting on the data 2022), this year (data 2024), 23 Member States responded. For some of the responding Member States, more than one training institution provided data for the different professions. Two Western Balkan states responded to the survey this year.

In particular, compared to 2023, the 2024 data shows that the participation in EU law training activities offered has increased notably, not only for the initial training that reached a participation rate of 78% in 2024, but also continuing training reached 65% in 2024 against 28% in 2023. 

It is also important to note that the topics for which the participants have shown more interest are professional ethics and professional skills, fundamental rights, IT skills and – in last position – foreign language skills. 

Prison and probation staff seem to have a growing preference for face-to-face training and occasionally for blended and eLearning training activities. 

Training Topics

Training activities covered a wide range of EU law topics and topics going beyond legal training (professional skills, professional ethics and language skills) in the EU and Western Balkan countries. 

From 2021 to 2024, continuing training related to digitalisation and AI increased from 2.6% to 4.7% of all training activities, while IT skills training rose from 17.4% to 24%. Although these figures remain modest, the upward trend demonstrates a growing recognition of the need for more digitalisation-focused training. 

For initial training, the data from 2021 to 2024 indicates a growing interest in Digitalisation and Artificial Intelligence, Fundamental Rights, the Rule of Law and Professional Ethics. This trend likely reflects the emerging challenges posed by technological evolution and the consequent need to ensure that future justice professionals are equipped with the ethical and legal tools required to address them.

By contrast, the proportions related to EU Institutional Law, Legal Systems of other Member States, Professional Skills, IT Skills and Foreign Language Skills display minor fluctuations. This relative stability may suggest that these areas are increasingly covered within university curricula, reducing the perceived need for additional training in these fields once professionals enter judicial careers. 

Quality of Training

Effective judicial training is not only about participant numbers. More importantly, the training activities must be of good quality. Training providers should promote high quality and impactful training activities, using modern training tools, benefiting from digitalisation. It is, however, complex to assess the quality of training. 

In this section, we present different possible indicators, such as the evaluation of training activities, training needs assessment, training for trainers and methodologies applied in training activities on EU law. 

A training duration analysis on EU law in 2023-2024 reveals a gradual shift toward more structured and balanced learning formats. For face-to-face activities, both initial and continuing training sessions show a decrease in very short training activities (<6 hours) and a corresponding increase in 1- to 3-day courses, reflecting a trend toward greater methodological consistency. Initial training also shows a rise in longer courses lasting over 10 days, suggesting deeper integration of EU law modules within the training programmes. 

In parallel, online training continues to play a complementary role, with most activities lasting between 1 and 6 hours. While shorter online sessions remain predominant, 2024 data indicates a diversification of formats, including more extended (>12-hour) courses. This suggests an ongoing effort to balance accessibility with content depth. Overall, these developments illustrated the gradual consolidation of training practices in line with the objectives of the European Judicial Training Strategy, strengthening both participation and the qualitative dimension of EU law training across the EU and Western Balkans. 

Length of Training on EU Law 

In the graph below, we visualise the data collected to measure the duration of face-to-face and online training activities, initial and continuing training in the EU and the Western Balkan countries by year-to-year-comparison. 

Types of EU Law Training Activities

The 2024 data shows a gradual diversification in the types of EU law training offered across the EU and Western Balkans. While face-to-face activities continue to dominate, particularly within initial training programmes, there has been a significant increase in eLearning participation, reflecting the growing digitalisation of judicial training. Blended and hybrid formats, though still limited in number, are expanding and indicate a move toward more flexible, learner-centred approaches. 

Participation in cross-professional training remains strongest among judges and prosecutors. Court staff also show a steady rise in participation, while lawyers, notaries, and bailiffs remain less represented, suggesting a continued need to strengthen outreach and tailored training for these professions. Overall, the trends point to a consolidation of core training formats and a gradual broadening of participation across professions, contributing to a more integrated and digitally adaptive European judicial training landscape. 

Evaluation of Training Activities

Over 70% of both initial and continuing programmes were evaluated in 2024 in the EU and in the Western Balkan countries.

However, the use of the Kirkpatrick methodology - a structured model for assessing learning impact - remains limited, with less than one-third of respondents applying it in either 2023 or 2024. This suggests that while evaluation practices are established, they often focus on satisfaction and attendance rather than on learning outcomes or behavioural change. 

Monitoring Training Needs

The training needs assessment across the EU and the Western Balkans shows a mixed picture. The overall proportion of institutions conducting it remains high. In 2024, 82% of providers reported monitoring training needs for continuing training programmes, compared to only 56% for initial training - a reversal of the 2023 pattern. 

Training of Trainers

The data reveals a moderate, but persistent gap. While around one-third of the institutions questioned continue to provide dedicated training for trainers in continuing training, the proportion offering it within initial training has declined markedly, from 36% in 2023 to 25% in 2024. A similar downward trend is visible for courses on eLearning methodologies, which dropped from 40% to 19% in initial training. 

Training Activity Methodologies

The methodology applied in training activities on EU law is as diverse as the topics of EU law training. All responding countries and all responding professions applied different methodologies in their initial and continuing training offer. 

The methodologies employed during the training activities for justice professionals indicate a predominant reliance on lectures as the most frequently used method. Nevertheless, trainers have increasingly integrated case studies, which are now applied in the majority of training sessions. 

By contrast, the use of virtual reality tools remains very limited, with most respondents explaining that such methods are never or almost never used. A similar pattern emerges for simulations, which are only occasionally incorporated, as well as for on-site demonstrations or study visits, role-playing, and film- or video-based learning. In contrast, group discussions appear to be consistently and widely employed across training activities, reflecting a steady shift towards more interactive forms of learning.