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Call for proposals for action grants to support transnational projects on judicial training covering civil law, criminal law or fundamental rights
Funding Program
Justice Programme
Call number
JUST-2026-JTRA
deadlines
Opening
11.12.2025
Deadline
03.03.2026 17:00
Funding rate
90%
Call budget
€ 4,075,000.00
Estimated EU contribution per project
min. EUR 100,000.00
Link to the call
Link to the submission
Call content
short description
The objective of this call is to contribute to the effective and consistent application of EU law, including the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU, by helping to address the training needs of justice professionals in line with the new Judicial Training Strategy. This call finances also training activities and tools for training providers to be then rolled out at national level.
Call objectives
The application of the relevance award criteria will be guided by these objectives, taking into account the priorities of the European Judicial Training Strategy 2025-2030 and ensuring appropriate funding for all objectives.
Training topics
Training can cover one or more of the following topics, in line with Judicial Training Strategy 2025-2030:
(1) Digitalisation
- Digital skills:
All justice professionals must have the possibility to acquire the necessary IT- and AI-literacy skills to apply digitalised cross-border procedures and tools, including the decentralised IT system established by Regulation (EU) 2023/2844. This Regulation carried out a major digital upgrade to the existing channels of communication in the area of cross-border judicial cooperation. Justice professionals need to be fully proficient in the use of the decentralised IT system and the European Electronic Access Point set up by that Regulation in order to be able to efficiently carry out their tasks. In addition, they should be able to access digital databases across borders and manage the impact of digitalisation on court proceedings. According to their professional roles they should be able to manage cases digitally, i.e. correctly assess, transfer and process digital documents and make appropriate use of videoconferencing while ensuring respect for procedural rights and safeguards for suspects, accused persons, requested persons and victims, accessibility for persons with disabilities, and adherence to data protection requirements.
Training should also enable justice professionals to generate efficiency gains from the use of AI tools. In parallel, it should promote efficient and responsible use of AI tools in justice, in compliance with the EU legal framework. When deploying AI systems, justice professionals as well as other staff of judicial administrations must have a solid knowledge of how to use AI tools both efficiently and responsibly within their respective
working environments. Training initiatives should prioritise the development of AI literacy and the skills needed to understand, evaluate and appropriately apply AI tools. Training initiatives on the efficient and responsible use of AI should also shed light on potential biases stemming from source data. Particular attention should be paid during training sessions on forestalling any form of discrimination, including gender-based
discrimination and racism, when using AI tools for decision-making.
Electronic court filing requires staff of judicial administrations to be trained to operate e-filing systems effectively and ensure they are used to their fullest potential. Staff need to be well trained in order to manage judicial data correctly, for instance to publish judicial decisions online and make such information accessible in a structured, machine-readable and downloadable format which will also then feed into the European Legal
Data Space. To understand the interaction between systems and data, judicial training should cover the topic of interoperability.
To strengthen the digital competencies of justice professionals in the exercise of their duties (or ‘e-judgecraft’), training topics should include e-case management, e-courtroom management, leadership, communication using electronic means, ethics, cybersecurity and resilience. Leaders and managers in the justice sector must also develop change management skills to effectively adapt to technological advancements, implement new practices, and guide digital transitions both within judicial administrations and in collaboration with all justice stakeholders.
- Legal knowledge in the context of the digital economy and society, procedural rights and cross-border cooperation tools:
Justice professionals need a solid knowledge of new or changed EU-legislation regulating the use of new technologies in many fields of the digital economy and society.
Justice professionals must also have a thorough understanding of procedural law and cross-border cooperation enabled by digitalised justice environments. This comprises the Taking of Evidence and the Service of Documents Regulations, requiring judicial authorities to communicate electronically from 1 May 2025 by using the decentralised IT systems established under those acts. It is therefore important that justice professionals, in addition to being proficient in the legal framework established by those two Regulations are also well trained in using the decentralised IT systems. The same judicial training is also needed with regard to the Joint Investigation Teams collaboration platform and the decentralised IT systems established by amending Regulation (EU) 2023/2131 as regards digital information exchange in terrorism cases, the e-evidence Regulation, and the Transfer of Proceedings in Criminal Matters Regulation.
- Awareness raising:
Justice professionals need to be aware of the potential, relevance, impact and utility of digitalisation to simplify their work and increase efficiency. The impact of AI, on justice professionals’ roles and responsibilities should be understood. All justice professionals should be aware that they need solid digital skills in order to master a digital working environment. Training should also target leaders and managers in the justice sector to enable them to actively promote the digital transition and to design inclusive transformation processes.
The proposed training activities should promote tools and information available on the European e-Justice Portal, such as the European Training Platform, the webpages of the European Judicial Network in civil and commercial matters, the Judicial Atlas, online forms, interconnected registers, competent court database, the European Case Law Identifier (ECLI) search engine, the European Electronic Access Point that will become applicable as of 2028, etc.
(2) Fundamental Rights, including non-discrimination and equality and Rule of Law
This training topic comprises the EU acquis on fundamental rights, including non-discrimination and equality. It covers the application and contents of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and related procedural rights and redress mechanisms.
This topic is based on the specific training needs identified in the Strategy to strengthen the application of the Charter of Fundamental Rights in the EU and its mid-term review (December 2025).
Training could include:
- Training to enhance knowledge of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU, its scope of application or specific rights, including the case law of the CJEU and the interplay between the Charter and the European Convention on Human Rights as well as existing remedies.
- Anti-bias and other training in relation to protected grounds of discrimination (for example, gender, ethnic origin, religious belief, sexual-orientation, colour of skin, age; sexual identity).
- Training on the effective implementation of the EU acquis on non-discrimination and equality. (e.g. Directive (EU) 2023/970 of 10 May 2023 on strengthening the application of the principle of equal pay through pay transparency).
- Training on the effective implementation of Directive 2024/1760 on corporate sustainability due diligence, including the types of adverse human rights impacts to be identified and addressed, the due diligence measures required and remedies.
- Training on the effective implementation of the Directive (EU) 2019/1937 on the Whistleblower protection to support a correct treatment of reports, ensure confidentiality and provide for adequate protection to prevent or remedy retaliation, including by applying adequate legal remedies applicable to whistleblowers, in particular, the reversal of the burden of proof and interim relief.
- Training of justice professionals on child-friendly justice, in line with the EU Strategy on the rights of the child and in line with the Commission Recommendation on integrated child protection systems (see chapter Towards increasingly child-friendly justice). Training can highlight the cross-sectorial and multiagency dimensions of child-friendly justice or focus on certain areas of EU law or certain topics (e.g. access to justice, legal aid, hearing of the child, right to information, child-friendly communication and proceedings, including evidence taking or use of non-custodial measures for children in contact with the justice system, common framework for cooperation and coordination between professionals working with or for children in legal proceedings or interventions that involve or affect children).
- Training on the effective investigation and prosecution of hate offences, as defined in the Council Framework Decision 2008/913/JHA on combating certain forms and expressions of racism and xenophobia by means of criminal law.
- Training on the guidance on the right of free movement of EU citizens and their families to ensure the effective and coherent implementation of that fundamental right (Article 45 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and Article 20(2)(a) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union) by justice professionals, also in view of frequent preliminary references to the European Court of Justice.
- Training on victims’ specific needs as referred to in the EU Strategy on victims' rights (2020-2025) and Article 25 of the Victims‘ Rights Directive.
- Training on correct application of the right to protection of personal data and EU Data protection law in judicial procedures and practices including training on legal and practical issues raised by the processing of personal data and the identification of potential data protection issues.
(3) Other topics
This call also addresses other topics of the EU acquis that contribute to the effective and coherent application of EU law. Such topics covering numerous instruments, come under the following categories:
- The application of EU law in daily practice.
- New and revised EU legislation and relevant CJEU case-law.
- Cross-border judicial cooperation in civil and criminal matters, including relevant EU bodies and agencies with a mandate to support judicial cooperation.
- EU acquis in the fields of rights and procedural safeguards for suspects, accused and requested persons as well as victims of crime.
- EU single market acquis, in particular in the field of free movement.
Judicial training principles
Training should be designed and planned in cooperation with training providers of justice professions, justice professions’ associations or bodies, or judicial authorities. Training should primarily be delivered by justice professionals who have been previously trained for this purpose, involving non-judicial experts where relevant. The support of non-judicial experts could be relevant with regard to training on digitalisation, e.g. when designing the training courses or giving hands-on training courses on digitalisation related matters or teaching relevant IT-background knowledge to understand the functioning of digital tools or AI tools.
Gender mainstreaming
The assessment of training needs must include a gender equality analysis. Findings from this gender analysis are expected to inform the project’s design and implementation. When designing the training content, the applicant shall consider, the differences in situations and conditions for women and men (or girls and boys) that are involved in legal processes. Applicants are expected to consider their differing needs, which could have an impact on the application of the law and consequently on the training needs of justice professionals. Thereby, unintended negative effects of training activities on either gender should be forestalled (do no-harm approach).
Given the call’s attention to the use of AI, applicants are encouraged to reflect on potential risks and biases linked to the use of AI that could lead to (gender-based) discrimination. Proposals that consider in their design and implementation a gender perspective, are deemed more impactful (see also section 9). Applicants are encouraged to consult the key questions listed on the EIGE website when conducting their gender analysis.
Applicants interested in more guidance are encouraged to consult the DG JUST online workshop on gender mainstreaming projects.
Target group
This call supports training of members of the judiciary and judicial staff, meaning judges, prosecutors, court and prosecution offices’ staff, other justice professionals associated with the judiciary, such as lawyers in private practice, notaries, bailiffs, insolvency practitioners and mediators, as well as court interpreters and translators, prison, and probation staff. The target group comprises also leaders and managers in justice sector, as well as leading personnel of the judiciary and associated professions, who are responsible for the digitalisation of their organisation, multipliers, such as judicial trainers or EU law court coordinators, where there are guarantees that the multipliers will pass on their competences to justice professionals in a systematic way. The group of court-and prosecution offices’ staff is particularly important in the context of digitalisation of justice.
Non-justice professionals cannot participate in the training activities as participants whose participation costs are eligible unless there is a duly justified exception acknowledged at the moment of the grant award.
Each project should describe the planned participants’ selection process. When identifying its target group (planned participants), the applicant shall consider gender balance, striving for gender parity among participants to the extent possible.
Distribution of financial support between different topics
The assessment of the relevance of the proposals will follow the objectives as mentioned under heading ‘Objectives’ taking into account the priorities of the European Judicial Training Strategy 2025-2030 and ensuring appropriate funding for all objectives. A fair balance between topics within the listed objectives and/or target audiences shall be sought. Moreover, priority will be given to projects that do not duplicate other training offers or on-going projects but that complement them with regard to training topic, target group or geographic area, create synergies with other training offers and/or that contain innovated methodology, or that produce deliverables to be rolled out at the national judicial training level.
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Expected effects and impacts
Training objectives
- Support of proper implementation of the decentralised IT systems under the Regulation (EU) 2023/2844.
- Strengthened “digital capacity” of justice professionals, thus indirectly supporting the digitalisation of national justice systems.
- Increased knowledge of justice professionals on substantive EU-legislation regulating digitalisation of various economic and societal fields, and thus effective justice in these areas.
- Increased knowledge of procedural law related to digital judicial procedures and of digital cross-border cooperation instrument, as well as the ability to apply them correctly and efficiently.
- Increased knowledge of EU civil and criminal law related to digitalisation, including the knowledge and ability to apply related digital instruments correctly and efficiently.
- Increased awareness of the benefits and efficiency gains related to the digitalisation of justice, as well as awareness of the need to master digital tools at the workplace.
- increased expertise on the scope of application and contents of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and on existing remedies, as highlighted in the Strategy to strengthen the application of the Charter of Fundamental Rights in the EU.
- Increased knowledge among justice professionals on the rights of all victims of crime, including the most vulnerable groups, such as women victims of gender-based violence, including improved methods of communication with victims in a gender-sensitive, impartial, respectful, and professional manner.
- Increased knowledge of EU acquis on non-discrimination and equality, as well as the ability to apply them correctly and efficiently.
- Increased knowledge of other topics of the EU-acquis, including the application of EU law in daily practice, and the knowledge of new and revised EU legislation and relevant CJEU case-law.
Methodology and broader impact
- Contribution to the transition to digital judicial training methodologies.
- Improved mutual trust between justice professionals in cross-border judicial cooperation.
- Improved cooperation of training providers of different justice professions and funded from different sources to coordinate their training offers to create synergies.
- Improved long-term impacts of judicial training and maximised impact of available funding through improved coherence and coordination of EU-funded and nationally funded training courses.
- Increased legal certainty for citizens and businesses
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Expected results
Each project should include training activities that are tailored to the daily professional needs, practical, interactive, and accessible to all learners, including practitioners with disabilities, irrespective of the format(s) of the activities: face-to-face, blended, hybrid or online format.
The gender equality perspective should be considered when designing the ‘format’ of the training activities and gender balanced participation in training activities must be promoted and ensured. Moreover, a gender-sensitive approach should be taken for the identification of good practices, data collection (including sex-disaggregated statistics) and information dissemination.
Training activities must include participants from different participating countries. Where necessary travel and accommodation costs of the participants should be planned.
This call may support training activities such as:
- Coordinated training activities on the use of digital justice tools, in particular with regard to the priority topic set out above.
- Pilot innovative training using latest methodologies and tools.
- Organisation of interactive, practice-oriented seminars.
- Multilateral exchanges of justice professionals.
- Training activities aimed at leaders and managers of justice organisations/bodies responsible for the digitalisation of their organisation/body.
- Activities aimed at the exchange or dissemination of experiences/best-practices of among Member States regarding judicial training, particularly on the digitalisation of justice.
- Cross-border initial training activities (online, face-to-face activities or exchanges), covering as many Member States as possible, to create a common European legal culture from the moment of entering a justice profession.
- Cross-professional training, to stimulate discussions across justice professions about the application of EU law and contribute to a European judicial culture across professional boundaries on precisely identified topics of relevance to the concerned professions.
- Joint study visits to European courts (such as the CJEU and the ECHR) by justice professionals from as many different Member States as possible.
- Creation of training material, whether for presential learning, blended learning or elearning, ready-to-use either by trainers or by practitioners for self-learning, in combination with the organisation of training activities, including the creation of ‘Capsule’ e-training (short, up to date, tightly focused) to address justice professionals’ immediate needs in the context of a concrete case.
- Update and/or translation of existing training material possibly combined with adaptation to national settings, in combination with the organisation of cross-border training activities.
- Creation of tools or activities for training providers (for example: train-the-trainers on active and modern adult learning techniques, train-the-trainers on online training skills and tools, tools to support the organisation of cross-border training, etc.), including to facilitate their cooperation at EU-level.
- Approaches to efficiently evaluate training activities on the basis of the participants’ satisfaction, increased competence and long-term impact on their performance.
- Training activities to enable leaders and managers in the justice sector to develop mangement skills to effectively adapt to technological developments, implement new practices and guide digital transitions, both within judicial adminsitrations and in collaboration with all justice stakeholders.
- Activities that are aimed to coordinate training activities funded from different sources to create synergies.
- Activities that are aimed to build-up or sustain European training networks, which provide training and coordinate training activities of their national members in line with the objectives of this call and the Judicial Training Strategy 2025- 2030. The funded activities should work to align EU-funded and nationally funded training initiatives and establish structured communication channels between the EU institutions and national training providers.
In line with the Judicial Training Strategy 2025 – 2030, this call places importance on a better coordination of judicial training funded from various sources. Applicants should therefore avoid duplication of training courses, e.g. of the European Judicial Training Network (EJTN), and concentrate on justice professionals that are not sufficiently covered by other training projects. This does not exclude that applicants offer coordinated training courses to professional groups that complement other training offers and create synergies. However, these training activities will be funded only when there is no equivalent activity which is already covered by the operating grant of the EJTN.
Training activities can take place in the context of initial training (pre-service or induction period – for example training activities to familiarise newly appointed justice professionals with EU legislation and judicial cooperation instruments) or continuous training of the participants (for example more specialised training activities for practicing justice professionals).
Training methodology
An evidenced-based training needs assessment for the topic of the training activity is always required. It should have already been carried out and should be outlined clearly in the project applications. Attention should be paid to addressing disparities and gaps in EU-law training between Member States, professional groups and geographic regions. Disparities among candidate countries, including in the digitalisation of justice, should also be taken into consideration when incorporating them into relevant training activities.
The planned training methodology should be designed to achieve long-term learning impacts. Face-to-face training is essential in EU-funded training and should be complemented by distance learning to prepare and follow up face-to-face training, deepening the learning effects. Further long-term impacts could be realised by integrating the sharing of best practices, professional exchanges and cross-professional training. AI could also be used to help professionals learn and stay updated on legal developments, to generate interactive real-world simulations or to allow professional skills to be practised and developed. Digital tools and AI could be used, where appropriate, to accommodate different learning styles and needs or to make judicial training accessible to practitioners working in isolated or remote areas of a Member State. Practical, hands-on training should be integrated. Discussions, exchanges of best-practices and networking among the participants in small groups should be part of the learning experience, including for online activities.
The integration of training-methods through modules could be achieved also through coordination with other training offers funded from various sources, especially national training.
Planned training activities should be of easy linguistic access (for example, by providing interpretation in the languages of all participants, national breakout groups, translation of training materials or linguistic programme components) to attract also justice professionals to cross-border training activities that are reluctant to participate in an activity in a foreign language and therefore have not been reached by previous cross-border training activities.
EU-funded training proposals should be the drivers of innovative training approaches and could pilot new training methods. In addition, training providers are encouraged to develop ready-to-use or adaptable training materials translated into several EU languages and make these available for national training purposes. Such materials could be designed to accommodate specific national contexts, legal frameworks and practical circumstances, and be tailored to or adaptable to the needs of different categories of justice professionals.
All training activities must be evaluated using state-of-the-art evaluation methods like those developed by the EJTN. Applicants should present a practical solution to evaluate long-term impacts, that does not only rely on participants’ feedback to questionnaires. Experience has shown that this evaluation method does not produce robust results, as the response rate usually is too low to be representative.
Dissemination strategy
The funded projects should have an effective strategy which guarantees that the training developed can be taken up by other training providers and/or made accessible to other justice practitioners. The sustainability is one of the evaluation criteria of the projects’ applications. A stock-taking of the results of judicial training 2021- 2024 has shown that there is room for improvement.
This call strives to finance training activities and tools for training providers to be rolled out at the national judicial training activities in a measurable, relevant, and time-bound manner. It is therefore the aim, that applicants produce good quality self-standing training material to be selected by the European Commission and advertised on the European Training Platform. The beneficiaries producing selected material will be asked to cooperate with the Commission and provide the support and information necessary for linkage to the European Training Platform.
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Eligibility Criteria
Regions / countries for funding
eligible entities
Education and training institution, International organization, Non-Profit Organisation (NPO) / Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), Other, Private institution, incl. private company (private for profit), Public Body (national, regional and local; incl. EGTCs), Research Institution incl. University, Small and medium-sized enterprise (SME)
Mandatory partnership
Yes
Project Partnership
In order to be eligible, the applicants (beneficiaries and affiliated entities) must:
- be legal entities (public or private bodies)
- be established in one of the eligible countries, i.e.:
- EU Member States (including overseas countries and territories (OCTs), excluding Denmark)
- non-EU countries:
- countries associated to the Justice Programme or countries which are in ongoing negotiations for an association agreement and where the agreement enters into force before grant signature (list of participating countries).
- and comply with other eligibility conditions:
- Organisations which are profit-oriented must submit applications in partnership with public entities or private non-profit-oriented organisations;
- the applications must be transnational and involve organisations from at least two participating countries;
- the EU grant applied for cannot be lower than EUR 100 000.
Proposals must be submitted by a consortium complying with the following conditions:
- The applications must involve minimum two entities (beneficiaries, not affiliated entities, i.e. one coordinator and at least one partner) from different eligible countries.
- The consortium must include at least one public body, private non-profit organisation, or international organisation as beneficiary or affiliated entity.
Note: Consortia that consist of a coordinator and (i) one or more affiliated entities, and/or (ii) one or more associated partners are ineligible. Please be careful when filling part A of the application form and make sure you add a partner to your consortium.
other eligibility criteria
Specific cases
Natural persons — Natural persons are NOT eligible (with the exception of self-employed persons, i.e., sole traders, where the company does not have legal personality separate from that of the natural person).
International organisations — International organisations are eligible. The rules on eligible countries do not apply to them.
Entities without legal personality — Entities which do not have legal personality under their national law may exceptionally participate, provided that their representatives have the capacity to undertake legal obligations on their behalf and offer guarantees for the protection of the EU financial interests equivalent to that offered by legal persons.
EU bodies — EU bodies (with the exception of the European Commission Joint Research Centre) can NOT be part of the consortium.
Associations and interest groupings — Entities composed of members (like for instance networks) may participate as ‘sole beneficiaries’ or ‘beneficiaries without legal personality’. Please note that if the action will be implemented by the members, they should also participate (either as beneficiaries or as affiliated entities, otherwise their costs will NOT be eligible).
Countries currently negotiating association agreements — Beneficiaries from countries with ongoing negotiations (see list) may participate in the call and can sign grants if the negotiations are concluded before grant signature (with retroactive effect, if provided in the agreement).
EU restrictive measures — Special rules apply for entities subject to EU restrictive measures under Article 29 of the Treaty on the European Union (TEU) and Article 215 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU (TFEU). Such entities are not eligible to participate in any capacity, including as beneficiaries, affiliated entities, associated partners, subcontractors, or recipients of financial support to third parties (if any).
EU conditionality measures — Special rules apply for entities subject to measures adopted on the basis of EU Regulation 2020/2092. Such entities are not eligible to participate in any funded role (beneficiaries, affiliated entities, subcontractors, recipients of financial support to third parties, etc.) Currently such measures are in place for example for Hungarian public interest trusts established under the Hungarian Act IX of 2021 or any entity they maintain (see Council Implementing Decision (EU) 2022/2506, as of 16 December 2022).
Additional information
Topics
Relevance for EU Macro-Region
EUSAIR - EU Strategy for the Adriatic and Ionian Region, EUSALP - EU Strategy for the Alpine Space, EUSBSR - EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region, EUSDR - EU Strategy for the Danube Region
UN Sustainable Development Goals (UN-SDGs)
project duration
between 12 and 24 months
Additional Information
Proposals must be submitted electronically via the Funding & Tenders Portal Electronic Submission System (accessible via the Topic page in the Calls for proposals section). Paper submissions are NOT possible.
Proposals (including annexes and supporting documents) must be submitted using the forms provided inside the Submission System (NOT the documents available on the Topic page — they are only for information).
Proposals must be complete and contain all the requested information and all required annexes and supporting documents:
- Application Form Part A — contains administrative information about the participants (future coordinator, beneficiaries, and affiliated entities) and the summarised budget for the project (to be filled in directly online)
- Application Form Part B — contains the technical description of the project (template to be downloaded from the Portal Submission System, completed, assembled and re-uploaded)
- KPI tool — contains additional project data regarding the project’s contribution to EU programme key performance indicators (to be filled in directly online, all sections to be completed)
- mandatory annexes and supporting documents (some templates are available to be downloaded from the Portal Submission System, completed, assembled and re-uploaded):
- detailed budget table (template available in the Portal Submission System – to be re-uploaded filled out in the format xlsx);
- CVs (standard) of core project team (or, where the key personnel is not yet known, a job profile description);
- activity report of last year of the coordinator (unless it is a public body);
- list of previous projects (key projects for the last 4 years) (template available in Part B);
- for participants with activities involving children (below the age of 18): child protection policy (for private bodies: copy of their policy; for public bodies: child protection policy declaration). See section 6 on “Ethics and EU values” for more information.
Proposals are limited to maximum 45 pages (Part B).
Call documents
Call Document JUST-2026-JTRACall Document JUST-2026-JTRA(777kB)
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