The United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland Judicial Studies Council
Within the UK and the Republic of Ireland, the JSB is a member of the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland Judicial Studies Council. It meets twice a year with the Judicial Studies Committee of Scotland, the Judicial Studies Board of Northern Ireland and the Judicial Studies Institute of the Republic of Ireland. Meetings discuss matters of common concern and judges from each jurisdiction attend training events run by the others from time to time. The venue for each meeting rotates between the four countries. The members make available to each other relevant training materials and share publications. The spirit of co-operation is high.
The European Judicial Training Network
Within the European Union the JSB is an active participant in the European Judicial Training Network. This Network was constituted under a Charter signed in Bordeaux in November 2000. It promotes co-operation between the judicial training institutions in each of the Member States. It is founded under the laws of Belgium and in September 2005 opened new offices in Brussels. The JSB was for several years a member of the steering committee but this ceased when Judge Victor Hall became secretary general of the Network in March 2008. The EJTN’s constitution does not allow a Member State to be a member of the steering committee whilst holding the position of secretary general. However, the JSB continues to be a member of the External Relations Working Group, a group which is responsible for the network’s relations with other international training institutions.
The JSB is also a member of the Technologies Working Group the aim of which is to assist member states and organisations to implement and enhance eLearning in their national programmes of training of judges and prosecutors. The eLearning mandate is broad and covers designing strategy/policy documents, adopting platforms and technologies, disseminating best practices and creating eLearning courses.
A large number of events are organised annually across Europe by training schools within the network and many of these are open to other members, a scheme known as the Catalogue Programme. Further, with the help of EU funding an Exchange Programme enables judges from one country to experience the judicial system of another. The JSB participates in both the Catalogue Programme and the Exchange Programme.
Other international training activities
The JSB also takes part in events organised by the International Organisation for Judicial Training (IOJT), a world-wide judicial body dedicated to the promotion of the rule of law in other countries and to helping other countries establish training schools which further such rule.
The JSB receives many requests for assistance from overseas, sometimes channelled through the British Council, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office or the International Division of the Ministry of Justice, and sometimes direct from overseas jurisdictions. The invitations range from a request to present a paper at a conference to assisting the jurisdiction by undertaking a scoping study and thereafter suggesting how a judicial training project can best be implemented. Sometimes the work covers a discrete area. At other times it can extend to help in setting up a new training school from scratch. In addition the JSB regularly hosts international visitors from overseas jurisdictions. Seminars are sometimes attended by judges from overseas, as participants or observers.
