Luxembourg launches large-scale recruitment of judges: new rules - more chances

Luxembourg's judicial system is facing overload: cases can take years to be heard, and there are agonisingly long months of waiting between the filing of a complaint and the delivery of a judgement. To reverse this trend, the justice administration has announced the urgent recruitment of 50 new "attachés de justice" (judicial assistants) who, after training, will be able to become full-fledged magistrates, i.e. representatives of the public prosecutor's office in court.

This is only the first phase: 200 such posts are planned to be created during the current Legislature, of which 150 will be created in the coming years. All this is part of a large-scale plan to unload the courts.

Until recently, the path to the judiciary was narrow: one had to either have worked as a barrister in a collegium for a minimum of 5 years or have completed a year of internship in the courts before applying for a position. But as of 1 April, a new law came into force which blurs the boundaries of access to the profession.

Now any lawyer working in the private or public sector can apply if they have at least 5 years of professional experience. This opens the door to hundreds of professionals who previously had no chance of moving into the judicial system.

However, one important restriction remains: the candidate must have Luxembourgish citizenship.

Those interested in a new career are invited by the Justice Administration to come to an information session on Wednesday 23 April at 17:30 at the Cité judiciaire in Luxembourg. There, it will be possible to get details about the selection process, training and prospects.