Practical Training

ERA / Activities / Practical Training

Training opportunities for young professionals

In order to more effectively address the requirements of practitioners, ERA has significantly enhanced its practical training programme recently. Initially, this pertains to a sequence of intensive one-week summer courses that are designed for young professionals and non-specialists. We make every effort to guarantee that these courses are of the highest quality. They are all designed to be interactive, incorporating case studies, practical seminars, and role-playing to enable participants to immediately apply the knowledge they have acquired.

ERA summer courses

In 2025, ERA provided four purely in-person summer courses, seven online and six in hybrid format. The summer courses seem to be in high demand, as evidenced by a total of 554 practitioners from all EU and EFTA member states, Western Balkan states, and other regions of the globe who attended the 17 summer courses.

The summer courses covering asylum and immigration law, consumer law, consumer financial services, criminal justice, environmental law, financial market regulation and supervision, as well as IT and VAT law, were exclusively delivered online, attracting a total of 187 participants. The hybrid summer courses in antitrust law, data protection law, labour law, public procurement law, and EU staff regulations garnered the interest of 290 practitioners. In contrast, the face-to-face summer courses on intellectual property law and social security law had a total of 43 participants. Additionally, in 2025, ERA offered two linguistic summer courses, which were attended by 21 participants.

Young European Lawyers Project

Building on its core priority of training the next generation of lawyers, the Academy of European Law (ERA) and the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE) launched the Young European Lawyers Contest in 2018 as a counterpart to the EJTN THEMIS competition, receiving EU funding under the Justice Programme in 2021. To enhance training on EU law and litigation, ERA established the Young European Lawyers Academy in 2022. In 2024, the contest and the academy were formally merged into the Young European Lawyers Project, which aims to strengthen young lawyers’ ability to apply EU law in their daily practice, particularly focusing on digital skills and the digital transition of justice. The project, which will run in 2025 and 2026, comprises two complementary core activities: two contests featuring three semi-finals and one final each, alongside four eight-day intensive courses for young lawyers in private practice. Additionally, it includes a half-day webinar on EU law.

Florence-Hartmann Vareilles

Head of Section – European Business Law Section

“As one of the organisers of these contests on behalf of ERA, I am sincerely impressed by the enthusiasm and motivation that participating young lawyers have developed during the preparation and running of these contests.”

Young European Lawyers Contest (YELC)

Supported by CCBE, EYBA, national and regional bars and law schools from 19 different EU Member States, the 2025 contest was composed of 3 semi-finals hosted in the first semester in Barcelona, Lisbon and Brussels, respectively. Over several months, twelve teams of young lawyers representing fifteen EU Member States successfully advanced through multiple stages of the competition, including written submissions and their oral presentation at the semi-final stage, a negotiation exercise, and – for the two finalist teams – a moot court. The final took place in the prestigious courtroom of the Court of Justice of the European Union in Luxembourg, where the two top teams defended a case that could not have been more topical, dealing with the designation of a digital platform as a gatekeeper according to the Digital Market Act, before judges of the General Court. The highlight of this unforgettable experience for the young lawyers was the opportunity to hear jurors share their personal insights and practical advice on pleading techniques. The event was streamed online for the very first time and is posted on the website of the CJEU.

Young European Lawyers Academy (YELA)

Organised since 2023, the Young European Lawyers Academy (YELA) is a co-funded project designed to complement the Young European Lawyers Contest. In 2025, a new series of intensive courses brought together 70 young lawyers from different European countries for training in EU law and digital skills. Participants learn how to apply EU law and digital developments in their daily legal work, gaining both knowledge and practical experience. The courses also create space for exchanging ideas, sharing best practices, and building professional connections across jurisdictions. A special highlight was the visit to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) and the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). Meeting with judges from these institutions gave participants valuable insights into the current and future challenges of European law. Through its hands-on approach, combining lectures, group exercises, and interactive sessions led by experienced EU and national legal experts, YELA strengthens young lawyers’ practical understanding of European law and prepares them for future cross-border legal challenges.

Tatsiana Bras Goncalves

Event Coordinator – European Public Law Section

“Coordinating the 8-day Young European Lawyers Academy was an intense and rewarding experience. In just over a week, I saw participants connect, grow, and inspire one another—showing how powerful even a short, well-designed programme can be in building a strong community of young lawyers.”

YELC

YELA

Large-scale training projects designed for judges, prosecutors, court staff, lawyers in private practice, prison staff and probation officers

Daniel Gärtner

Senior Lawyer, Course Director – European Private Law Section

“The seminars of the series provide an excellent opportunity for participants to learn from outstanding speakers and exchange thoughts, ideas and best practices with fellow colleagues from across Europe. Together, we are shaping a more equal Europe!”

EU anti-discrimination law & EU gender equality law

EU anti-discrimination law and EU gender equality law have become pivotal topics in ERA’s programme due to this long-standing EU-funded project. Each year, 600 judges, lawyers, and academics from all EU Member States are trained on how discrimination and gender equality are addressed in EU legislation and interpreted by the jurisprudence of the Court of Justice of the EU. In 2025, twelve seminars were held, nine of which took place outside Trier, hosted by various national judicial schools (including the Belgian Judicial Training Institute, the Judicial Training School of Cyprus, the Serbian Judicial Academy, the Swedish Judicial Training Academy, and the Polish National School of Judiciary and Public Prosecution), national bar or lawyers’ associations (such as the Bar of Ireland, the Estonian Bar Association and the Association of Hungarian Women Lawyers), as well as universities (such as the University Complutense of Madrid). Accompanying these courses are numerous online resources available in different languages, including PowerPoint presentations, e-learning courses, and e-presentations.

EU environmental law

In 2025, ERA was awarded – for the fourth time in a row – a four-year service contract to continue a major project on behalf of the European Commission’s DG Environment entitled Cooperation with National Judges in the Field of EU Environmental Law.

The initiative aims to develop training modules on various topics of EU environmental law as well as to organise workshops for judges. Later, prosecutors were added to the target audience and, for the current framework contract, also court staff. In 2025, ERA implemented nine events in the framework of specific contracts.

“It is rewarding to see the exchange of expertise between judges, prosecutors, and court staff from across Europe during our environmental law workshops. While this cross-border dialogue is central to the project we conduct on behalf of the European Commission, our tailor-made events – conducted in national languages – further ensure that these EU standards remain practical and relevant to the daily work of legal professionals in every Member State.”

Luisa Cortat

Deputy Head of Section – European Public Law Section

Training Project for Court Staff and Bailiffs

In 2025, ERA finalised the implementation of the training initiative for court staff and bailiffs in collaboration with the European Judicial Training Network (EJTN), the Belgian Judicial Training Institute (IGO-IFJ), the Bulgarian National Institute of Justice (NIJ), and the Romanian National School of Clerks (NSC) and with the support of 13 national judicial training institutions and the European Union of Judicial Officers (UEHJ). The ERA-led consortium addressed existing gaps in the training of court staff and bailiffs by adopting a modern, practice-orientated approach to EU judicial education. A final legal English course took place in January 2025, which brought the project to a successful close. Building on the insights gained from this training initiative, ERA applied for a continuation of training activities for court staff and bailiffs and was awarded a new grant by the European Commission. The new project will deal with matters related to the digitalisation of judicial cooperation in both EU civil and criminal law, commencing on 1 January 2026 for 30 months. ERA leads a consortium of 24 partners, developing training activities, such as combined legal English training seminars, as well as pan-European legal academies. The training events will be delivered in face-to-face, hybrid, and online formats. In the course of the project, 472 court staff and bailiffs will have the possibility to participate in 14 cross-border and cross-professional training events.

Cornelia Riehle

Deputy Head of Section – European Criminal Law

“In 2025, our first two-year project delivering European criminal justice training tailored specifically for defence lawyers came to an end. What really stood out to me was not just the training itself, but the opportunity for defence lawyers from across Europe to meet, exchange experiences, and learn from one another. I’m proud that we’ve applied for a second project so we can continue offering this kind of support and training.”

Training for defence lawyers

In 2025, ERA successfully completed its inaugural dedicated training initiative for defence lawyers, focusing specifically on European criminal law. This initiative provided high-quality training to over 500 defence lawyers from across the European Union through 15 interactive activities that addressed key issues in EU criminal law. To ensure a lasting impact and broad accessibility, selected recordings of webinars, alongside an introductory e-learning course, were made publicly available. In addition to its educational aspect, the project fostered a valuable platform for discussions regarding the necessity for further EU measures in the realm of criminal law. ERA executed the project under the Justice Programme, collaborating closely with the European Criminal Bar Association (ECBA), the Barcelona Bar Association (ICAB), the Budapest Bar Association, the Latvian Collegium of Sworn Advocates, the Lithuanian Bar Association, the Croatian Bar Association, the Portuguese Bar Association, and the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Lithuania. In light of the project’s remarkable success, ERA and its partners applied for co-financing under the Justice Programme in 2025 for a second edition, which was subsequently granted. The follow-up project is set to commence in March 2026, further enhancing specialised training opportunities for defence lawyers in the field of EU criminal law.

Detention, alternatives, mutual trust and mutual legal assistance

Building on the success of previous projects conducted by ERA in the field, 2025 marked the beginning of a two-year EU co-funded project aimed at training 400 practitioners, consisting of judges, prosecutors, private practice lawyers, prison staff, and probation officers. It will provide its participants with an overview of EU instruments of mutual legal assistance and mutual legal recognition in the field of deprivation or restriction of liberty, placing them within the wider context of the applicable Council of Europe recommendations and the relevant ECtHR and CJEU judgments, with the aim of facilitating better cross-border cooperation among Member States and raising awareness of alternatives to detention. This training will be delivered through a blended learning approach, featuring five webinars alongside five face-to-face seminars, with two webinars and two seminars in Strasbourg and Vilnius having taken place in 2025.

Ramin Farinpour

Senior Lawyer, Course Director – European Criminal Law Section

“It is evident from the many lively discussions and exchanges of information during the project’s various seminars and webinars that the multi-disciplinary approach we took to training practitioners working with the various relevant EU instruments was the right one. It’s been rewarding to see how a better understanding of how the instruments should work in pratice was achieved amongst the participants and new direct contacts for future exchanges amongst many of them was made.”

Laviero Buono

Head of Section – European Criminal Law Section

“Technology is not a “nice-to-have” but a “must-have” for today’s legal practitioners – and this is exactly what our 12-event series “#AI and #Digitalisation”, co-funded by the EU, is designed to address.”

Advanced cross-professional training in digitalisation and AI

In 2024, ERA kicked off a large-scale project sponsored by the European Commission entitled Judicial training to prepare criminal justice professionals for #digitalisation and #artificialintelligence. It consists of 12 seminars to take place in various EU cities over the period 2024-2027. In 2024, the first event took place in Lisbon in cooperation with the Portuguese Centre of Judicial Studies. In 2025, four seminars were held in Bucharest (February); Cracow (May); Prague (June); and Thessaloniki (October).

EU Anti-Trafficking Hub

The EU Anti-Trafficking Coordinator officially launched the EU Anti-Trafficking Hub in June. Under the coordination of Ecorys, ERA has partnered together with La Strada International, CEPS (Centre for European Policy Studies) and HEUNI, the European Institute for Crime Prevention and Control, to implement the Hub over the coming years. The Hub will support the EU Anti-Trafficking Coordinator in developing EU policies to combat and prevent trafficking in human beings and protect its victims. It will also support the implementation of the EU Strategy on Combatting Trafficking in Human Beings and the EU Anti-Trafficking Directive. ERA is responsible for the organisation of meetings and consultations with EU Member States and relevant civil society organisations about the policy papers and ad hoc papers that are being produced by the Hub, as well as content-related support to the organisation of meetings of the EU Network of National Rapporteurs and Equivalent Mechanisms against trafficking in human beings and the Civil Society Platform members.

Tailor-made training courses

Following a successful application in 2024, ERA, together with EJTN, commenced a second service contract to provide training for European Delegated Prosecutors and staff of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO). In 2025, under the new framework contract, ERA and EJTN implemented 6 online training events exclusively for European Delegated Prosecutors and EPPO staff. The webinars addressed a broad range of topics directly linked to EPPO casework, including case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), the EU budget and resilience funds, customs and anti-dumping, data science and blockchain, and the use of analytical tools in the context of EPPO investigations. In 2025, the consortium also organised, for the first time, a face-to-face training event at EPPO’s headquarters in Luxembourg. The 2.5-day training focused on legal language skills, further enhancing the operational effectiveness and cross-border cooperation capacities of European Delegated Prosecutors.

ERA organised a seminar on EU criminal justice legislation for the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission (NIHRC) in Belfast. The EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement allows for continued law enforcement and judicial cooperation between the EU and its Member States on the one hand and the UK on the other. Northern Ireland continues to apply certain EU standards post-Brexit in the version the legislation was in when the UK left the EU. The updated EU legislation that was covered, along with some other new instruments that do not bind the UK in respect of Northern Ireland, was of interest in that it binds the Republic of Ireland and, therefore affects equivalence of rights on the island of Ireland, which is an issue covered by the Belfast Good Friday Agreement. The NIHRC has a mandate to oversee the implementation of the human rights and equality aspects of those commitments, necessitating detailed knowledge of EU law.