Presidency

The Centre for Legal Studies and Specialised Training (CEJFE) is an autonomous government entity ascribed to the Department of Justice of the Government of Catalonia. It was created by Act 18/1990, of 15 November, for the purpose of conducting specialized training and research activities in the field of law and justice. The Centre’s main mission consists of planning, organizing, and delivering the training of all the staff assigned to the Department of Justice.

To this end, a catalog of training actions is offered annually that responds to the needs that have been identified from the interest of the various staff target groups. This formative offer is structured in various formats (internal, collaborative, online, and mixed).

Training in the Administration of Justice

The centre offers continuous training for magistrates, judges, justices of the peace, prosecutors, judicial secretaries, clerks, and forensic staff. It also provides, both initial and upgrading training for management, procedural, administrative, and support staff. For this training, there is an increased use of electronic learnings formats (e-learning).

An entrance exam is offered for preparation programs for judges, prosecutors, and judicial secretaries (10 years of professional legal experience). Training is also made available to other professionals involved in the administration of justice, including legal experts, linguists, librarians, and members of the Judicial Technical Advisory Service in the family’s law services field.

Training in criminal enforcement

Training in criminal enforcement provides initial and continuous training for professionals working in the field of juvenile justice, the prison system, and criminal justice in the community. The Centre, also, offers activities in criminology and criminal enforcement.

General and management training

Basic enrichment and strategic training in the knowledge and attitudes needed to improve the job skills of the Department of Justice staff.

New Training Programs

To complement the training and research done by the CEJFE, it also organizes conferences, seminars, and meetings at the national and international level in the areas of work of the Department of Justice (which are the Administration of justice, criminal enforcement, victim assistance, the development of the Catalan civil specific law, and criminology, among others).

Research

The Centre promotes research in the fields of the execution of sanctions and measures, penal mediation, and victim support. Research is focused on improving the work carried out by staff working in prisons, juvenile justice, or community sanctions. On the website from the Center, download the documents related to such researches.

Other activities

The Centre offers to students of Catalan universities different practicum programs. These practices are carried out in court offices, prisons, juvenile offender institutions, etc. The Centre allocates a specialised public library with publications, journals and audio-visual material on criminal law, prison law, youth justice, administrative law, civil law, family law and other topics such as psychology, pedagogy, social work, drug dependence, immigration, human resources and training management.

International activities

The Centre organises, together with the Criminal Justice Platform in Europe, the yearly edition of the Summer Course, to host international conferences or seminars in the field of justice with different relevant stakeholders.

As well, the Centre takes part in International Projects of Cooperation with third countries, helping them to improve their judicial system. Currently, the Centre is involved in one project with the Ombudsman Office of Guatemala.