Acces

German Judical Academy conferences are reserved exclusively for judges and public prosecutors. Registration for the conferences is made via the respective justice administrations.

Judges and public prosecutors from abroad may - if slots are available - participate in certain conferences as guests.

It is everyone’s individual decision whether or not he wishes to attend the further training conferences held by German Judicial Academy. There is no obligation to attend any individual conference.

So, how does a person interested in further training get a place in Trier or Wustrau? In this context, it needs to be mentioned first that the limited numbers of places available at the conference centres are apportioned to the individual administrations of justice. This is done in application of the abovementioned „Königsteiner Schlüssel“.

First the places available for each federal state are further allocated by the respective administration of justice – among jurisdictions, among judges and public prosecutors as well as among the individual court districts. Anyone who, upon consultation of the Annual Programme of the German Judicial Academy, is interested in attending a conference may apply for a place, if he is working for a court or authority that has been allocated a place. In the event that more applications are submitted than places are available, the superiors or administrations of justice, involving the councils of judges or personnel councils, will shortlist the candidates. About eight weeks prior to the beginning of the conference the sending states notify the organising state of the names of their participants. At this point in time at the latest, the participant, too, receives a notice from his administration to inform him whether or not his application could be considered. On the other hand, substitutes may benefit from places if the respective number of places available could not be filled within a federal state or on a national basis.

The final interesting issue concerns the reimbursement of travel expenses. Reimbursement of the participants' and the conference managers' travel expenses is not effected by the German Judicial Academy which only reimburses the travel expenses of the lecturers. In general, the sending administration of justice reimburses the travel expenses incurred by the participants. Whereas most federal states still grant reimbursement in full, others only pay a travelling allowance. In individual cases, the tight budgetary position is stated as the reason for not paying any reimbursement at all; in such cases, the participant is expected to contribute the expenses for his travel to Trier or Wustrau himself. Attending the conferences of the German Judicial Academy is free of charge; the participants also receive free lodging and boarding at the conference centres.