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Judicial training takes a turn
Judges are to be trained under a new system, in which they can pick their own courses.
The New Lawyer
THE British Judicial Studies Board marks its 30th anniversary this year, celebrating three decades of judge-specific training. Where once training for judges was was merely accepted, now it is seen as a crucial tool for judges to carry out their job.
Next week the training of judges takes another leap forward with the launch of a strategy for the nearly 2,000 full-time judges in England and Wales, reports The Times Online.
The Judicial Studies Board, the body in charge of judicial training, is becoming a Judicial College, with its own prospectus from which the judges will pick their own courses.
Lord Justice Maurice Kay, chairman of the existing Judicial Studies Board, says reform is about more than just a change in name; it’s a new concept and highlights a “real culture change in judicial education. It marks a change in the emphasis of training away from the delivery of black letter law and towards the acquisition and improvement of judicial skills.”
Three years ago a review of judges’ training found that training needed to be more tailored to the needs of individual judges. It found the focus of training should be on practical skills, or judgecraft, not the substantive law.
