Luxembourg's Minister of Justice, Elisabeth Margue; Credit: ©SIP / Claude Piscitelli

Luxembourg's Minister of Justice, Elisabeth Margue, recently advocated opening access to the judiciary to all legal professions in the broad sense of the term.

To fill the approximately 200 magistrate positions to be created during the current legislature, Luxembourg’s Ministry of Justice noted it is necessary to recruit and train a greater number of legal attachés than in the past. The bill provides for a revision of the amended law of 7 June 2021 on legal attachés, and more specifically the recruitment and professional training of legal attachés.

"This reform of the conditions of access to the judiciary is a political priority for the government, with the aim of giving courts and prosecutors the necessary means to guarantee citizens effective and rapid justice," recalled Minister Margue.

While maintaining the condition of having the Luxembourgish nationality, the bill specifies the linguistic requirements by determining the levels to be achieved in French, German and Luxembourgish, which candidates for the judiciary must master orally and in writing.

The condition of passing the complementary courses in Luxembourg law will be enshrined in law with a possibility of exemption in the event of acquiring training or a qualification particularly sought after by a justice service.

In principle, professional experience in the field of law will be required. Not only lawyers but also public and private sector lawyers will be able to apply for the positions of judicial attaché under the following conditions:

  • to be admitted to the recruitment procedure by entrance examination to the judiciary, candidates must have professional experience in the field of law, the minimum duration of which is increased, as in the past, to two years;
  • to be admitted to the recruitment procedure on file, candidates must have professional experience in the field of law, the minimum duration of which will be maintained at five years.

Considering the shortage of magistrates and drawing inspiration from French legislation, Minister Margue recommended taking into consideration professional experience acquired in a field other than law. In the event of exercising a professional activity, for example in the administrative, economic, financial, tax or social field, the commission for the recruitment and training of so-called judicial attachés may welcome candidates to participate in recruitment procedures when their professional experience is deemed qualifying for the exercise of the function of magistrate.

"This is a paradigm shift that was born out of necessity, but which, ultimately, demonstrates a broader openness than that of the initial idea. By broadening the pool of talent likely to access the judiciary, we are fulfilling our commitment to remedy a situation that has remained without resolution for too long, jeopardising the effectiveness of our judicial system and respect for the rule of law in the long term."