Welcome to ERA – Academy of European Law

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From 20-24 January, ERA welcomed a delegation of senior representatives from Moldova and Ukraine’s judicial training institutes (National School of Judges of Ukraine, the Prosecutor’s Training Center of Ukraine, and the National Institute of Justice of Moldova) and bar associations (the Ukrainian National Bar Association and the Moldovan Advocates Training Center) for a study visit. This intensive five-day visit aimed at strengthening legal training on EU law in the context of the countries’ EU accession process and provided a platform for in-depth discussions on the training needs of legal professionals, contributing to the development of a joint training approach.


The programme included a mix of plenary sessions, country-specific discussions, and profession-specific workshops, acknowledging the different training requirements of judges, prosecutors, and lawyers. Participants also visited the Court of Justice of the European Union in Luxembourg, where they attended a hearing and engaged with Advocate General Rimvydas Norkus and Judge Octavia Spineanu-Matei.


ERA experts were joined by key representatives from the European Commission, including Policy Officer Manfredas Limantas (DG NEAR) and Wojciech Postulski (DG JUST), as well as Anne-France Catoir from the European Investment Bank, who provided valuable insights into the EU accession process. The study visit also welcomed online Piotr Girdwoyn, the Director of National School of Judiciary and public Prosecution of Poland.  

 
This study visit was part of ERA’s broader commitment to supporting EU candidate countries. In 2024 alone, nearly 500 legal practitioners from Moldova, Ukraine, and the Western Balkans participated in ERA’s training programmes.

 
The visit concluded with concrete ideas for future projects to be implemented in Ukraine and Moldova. Scheduled measures include the joint dissemination of ERA’s training programme, nominations for selected ERA training events, and the promotion of the ERA scholarship programme among the legal professionals of both countries. As a summary of the visit, Maksym Khodakivskyi, seconded judge and trainer at the National School of Judges of Ukraine stated that “This training is organised at the highest level and will help us to incorporate European Law into the national school of judges educational project”.