How to become a lawyer-linguist at the Court of Justice?
In order to recruit lawyer-linguists, the European Personnel Selection Office (EPSO) organises competitions for the Court of Justice (as for all the other institutions of the European Union) from time to time, according to the needs of the various units.
Notices of competitions are published in the Official Journal of the European Union. The applicable requirements do not vary much from one competition to another. They may, however, be adapted to suit the particular market at which the competition notice is aimed and the specific needs of a unit.
In addition to the general and special conditions which are common to all the institutions, the Court always requires candidates to hold a legal education qualification from the State or one of the States relevant to the language for which the recruitment is being organised. As well as possessing a perfect command of the language of the competition, candidates must have a knowledge of at least two other official Community languages.
Following a procedure to determine the admissibility of candidates, the competitions provide for written and oral tests. The written tests involve translating legal texts from two languages of the candidate's choice into the language of the competition. All these translations must be done without the use of a dictionary.
Successful candidates are placed on a reserve list and may be offered a post as and when the need arises within the service and posts are available for their language.
Lawyer-linguists carry a great responsibility in fulfilling their role within the proceedings and are required to work at speed. Their work must therefore be of the highest quality, and they must be able to work under pressure and keep to deadlines. Lawyer-linguists must also be able to adapt to the nature of their work and to changes in working methods, and continue their training throughout their career.
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