The high quality and timeliness of the legal proceedings taken before Hungarian courts is reflected in the Scoreboard of the European Commission. The successes reflected in the numbers can also be attributed to changes in the organisational culture that, in turn, are based on the strategic objectives set by the President of the National Office for the Judiciary. Effective from 2012 these changes can be traced in the infrastructure and administrative modernisation of the judiciary.

This development, however, goes and reaches far beyond the renewal of tangible and IT working conditions: humans continue to be the most important component, so without best-in-class professional training we cannot talk about a 21st century judiciary. 

The training system of the Hungarian judiciary organisation is sound even in the EU context, in terms of methods, system and complexity alike: regarding the rate of judges participating in further training, our rate is the fourth highest in the Union.

The National Office for the Judiciary pays particular attention to talent management, i.e. the training of court trainees, secretaries and nascent judges. New Generation is the summary term we use for them. In addition to working, learning is also a particularly important duty for them, as their professional expertise, skills and attitude are the pledge for the future judiciary.

Often times, the judge is assessed not on the basis of the judgment he/she delivered, or if the judgment is a perfect conclusion of the facts but the way he/she communicates with the client or whether he/she can keep order in the courtroom. So it is not sufficient to focus only of transferring legal knowledge during training: the same emphasis must be placed on skills development; therefore the National Office for the Judiciary is committed to permanently improving these skills by organising lawsuit simulation exercises, competitions, soft skill (self-awareness, decision-making psychology, time, communication and stress management) training courses and also by incorporating soft skills development in professional training courses.

Some members of the Y (1981-1995) and the Z (1996-2010) generations are already our colleagues. Their employment and training needs are largely different from those of the previous generations, as they seek information differently and communicate otherwise as their predecessors. Therefore the methodology of training courses aimed at them has been aligned with such needs.

These training courses are practice-oriented: the knowledge gained and applied is deeply rooted in their work; such personalised learning experiences are more useful and easier to apply and share whereby, and thanks to the interactive methods used, they can acquire more in-depth knowledge.

The strengthening of an open, curious and widely informed attitude is also an important factor. Therefore, in addition to traditional judiciary activities, members of the New Generation have countless opportunities for travelling, learning, participating in exchange programmes, not to mention the ability to participate in national professional networks, working groups and the opportunity to develop a taste for administrative duties.