Judicial Academy: Eight Hundred Officials to Soon Begin Learning Foreign Languages for Legal Purposes

Eight hundred judicial officials, advisors, and clerks will soon begin attending a course on learning foreign languages for legal purposes as part of a project by the Judicial Academy funded by grants from the European Social Fund (ESF).

The Judicial Academy began implementing the project “Introduction and Implementation of Education Programs in the Field of Foreign Languages for Judicial Officials, Advisors, and Clerks in the Judiciary” on September 6, 2017, with the signing of the grant agreement from the ESF, valued at 4.7 million kuna.

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This is the first contracted project intended for the judiciary that will be financed from the European Union’s Structural Funds, aimed at ensuring professional development for judicial staff in the field of foreign languages and improving the system of professional development by incorporating foreign language learning into the regular offerings of the Judicial Academy.

The Director of the Judicial Academy, Andrea Posavec Franić, stated at the project’s opening ceremony that previous international activities in which the Judicial Academy participated showed that a smaller number of judicial officials possess adequate knowledge of foreign languages.

Knowledge of foreign languages for legal purposes is essential for Croatian judicial officials to perform tasks within judicial cooperation, cross-border procedures, and the application of European law and EU Court practices, especially since Croatia’s accession to the EU.

Knowledge of foreign languages is also of great importance for working on cases related to phenomena with a pronounced international dimension such as cybercrime, organized crime, terrorism, and corruption.

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Through the project, programs and teaching materials for English, German, French, and Italian legal languages will be developed, and classes will be organized for about 800 course participants, as well as online modules for learning foreign languages for legal purposes. The expected duration of the project is 36 months, and it is intended for officials who have a minimum language proficiency level of B1.

Justice Minister Dražen Bošnjaković, who attended the ceremony, stated that the Croatian judicial system is no longer limited to the territory of Croatia and that it is evident how intertwined the decisions and practices of the European Court of Human Rights and the EU Court are. One of the important things in that system is to know foreign languages. We do have, of course, a part of the people who are excellent at it, however, we must continuously work on that, said Bošnjaković.

The President of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Croatia, Đuro Sessa, called on court presidents not to be an obstacle for judges seeking various training opportunities.