The International Organization for Judicial Training

visit to the Spanish School for Judges during Barcelona conference 2007

About the International Organization for Judicial Training
The International Organization for Judicial Training (IOJT) was established in 2002 in order to promote the rule of law by supporting the work of judicial education institutions around the world. The mission of the IOJT is realized through international and regional conferences and other exchanges that provide opportunities for judges and judicial educators to discuss strategies for establishing and developing training centers, designing effective curricula, developing faculty capacity, and improving teaching methodology. The IOJT is a volunteer, non-profit organization and relies upon the efforts and good will of its members.The organization is governed by a General Assembly of its members which meets every 2-3 years during the international conference.There is an elected Board of Governors which consists of an Executive Committee, Regional Deputy Presidents, additional Deputy Presidents and Governors. As of May 2012, the IOJT has 105 member-institutes from 64 countries.

What's New

5th International Conference on Training of the Judiciary

stack of books with gavel Nearly 250 participants from 74 countries gathered in Bordeaux, France, for the 5th International Conference on Training of the Judiciary. Under the title "Judicial Training in a Globalized World: Restoring Trust and Stability" participants were offered a variety of plenary sessions, round tables and workshops. Seventy speakers shared with attendees their knowledge and experience and discussed the overall theme in relation with three key words – needed to ensure effective justice - Legitimacy, Effectiveness and Solidarity (full program of the conference is posted on the website).

shlomo levin and jean-francois thony The conference was organized by the French National School for the Judiciary (École Nationale de la Magistrature - ENM) and was held in its beautiful premises in Bordeaux. The Honorable Vincent Lamanda, President of the French Supreme Court addressed participants at the official opening ceremony and stressed the importance of exchange of knowledge and information between judicial educators and judges from different countries. The French Minister of Justice and Liberties, Mr. Michel Mercier addressed participants at the closing session.

Two IOJT senior officials - visionary founder and IOJT's first president since its inception, Dr. Shlomo Levin, and co-founder and first Secretary-General, Prof. Amnon Carmi , stepped down from their positions after nine years in office.

The IOJT expressed its great appreciation and gratitude to both of them, for their important contribution to the creation of an international framework for cooperation among judges, judicial educators and judicial training institutes around the world and for their devoted on-going work for the organization.

The IOJT's General Assembly, which convened during the conference, elected Justice Eliezer Rivlin as new president and Judge Yigal Mersel as new Secretary-General. IOJT Treasurer,
B. Paul Cotter, Jr. and Executive Committee members Brian Lennox and Jean-Francois Thony were re-elected to their posts. New members of the Executive Committee are Mary McQueen (USA), Ernest Schmatt (Australia) and John Tsekooko (Uganda). Sheridan Greenland (UK) was elected as Deputy Secretary-General.

Five Regional Deputy-Presidents whose mission is to encourage and facilitate regional IOJT activities were elected:
1. Mohammed Elayoubi from Morocco (Africa and the Middle East).
2. Felix Azon from Spain (Europe).
3. Cristian Riego from Chile (South America).
4. Wayn Martin from Australia (Asia and the Pacific).
5. Barbara Rothstein from the US (North, Central America and the Caribbean).

A full list of IOJT Board of Governors can be found by clicking on this link.

people in hall A special evening for delegates from Africa was held during the conference with the generous support of the Lenfest Foundation. The purpose of the meeting was to generate a discussion on what IOJT might do to meet the needs of African judicial training institutes.

Two speakers, John Tsekooko (Chairperson of the East African Judicial Education Committee) and Mamadou Diakhate (Director of the Judicial Training Centre of Senegal) provided brief reports about the state of judicial training in their countries and in their respective region - East and West Africa.

The Conference program (in English, French and Spanish) and other conference materials can be found by clicking on this link.

Official photos from the Opening and Closing Ceremony and the Gala Dinner are posted on the conference website, under "Practical Information/Souvenir Photos." Click on this link for direct access.

Mark Your Calendar!!!

6th IOJT International Conference

Washington D.C.

November 4-7, 2013

Hosted and organized by the National Center for State Courts

Online Library

We are pleased to inform you that we now have a Library of judicial education materials on our website.

Judicial training institutes and educators can now share resources and gain access to a variety of interesting and valuable materials.

We invite you to send us:

innovative lectures
articles
special programs
practical demonstrations or exercises
names of recommended speakers
experts in specific areas

Please send your materials to IOJT@supreme.court.gov.il (note that materials submitted need to be approved by an IOJT supervising committee before being posted on the website).

You can access the Library from the navigation menu or by clicking here.

IOJT Blog

IOJT members as well as others involved in judicial education, are invited to post their commentaries, ideas or questions to the IOJT Blog.

Each post is open for comments back and thus enables interactive discussion in a simple, friendly and informal way.

We created the Blog to address your needs and interests and we hope it will become a tool you can draw benefit from.

Click here to access the IOJT Blog.

We look forward to hearing from you on the IOJT Blog!