In addition to its training activities for judges and magistrates in England and Wales the Judicial Studies Board is also a member of a range of supra-national and international networks. The Director of Studies is responsible for carrying out this increasingly important aspect of the JSB’s work.

Within the UK the JSB is a member of the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland Judicial Studies Council and meets twice a year with the Judicial Studies Committee of Scotland, the Judicial Studies Board of Northern Ireland and the Judicial Studies Institute of the Republic of Ireland.  Meetings are held to discuss matters of common concern and judges from each jurisdiction attend training events run by the others from time to time. The venue for each meeting rotates between the four countries. We make available to each other relevant training materials and we share publications. The spirit of co-operation is high.

Within the European Union the JSB is an active participant in the European Judicial Training Network. This Network was constituted under a Charter signed in Bordeaux in November 2000 and exists to promote co-operation between the judicial training institutions in each of the Member States.  It is founded under the laws of Belgium and in September 2005 opened new offices in Brussels. The JSB was for several years a member of the steering committee but this ceased when Judge Victor Hall became secretary general of the Network in March 2008.  The EJTN’s constitution does not allow a Member State to be a member of the steering committee whilst holding the position of secretary general. However, the JSB continues to be a member of the External Relations Working Group, a group which is responsible for the Network’s relations with other international training institutions.

A large number of events are organised annually across Europe by training schools within the Network and many of these are open to other members, a scheme known as the Catalogue Programme.   Further, with the help of EU funding an Exchange Programme enables judges from one country to experience the judicial system of another.  The JSB participates in both the Catalogue Programme and the Exchange Programme.

The JSB also takes part in events organised by the International Organisation for Judicial Training (IOJT), a world-wide judicial body dedicated to the promotion of the rule of law in other countries and to helping other countries establish training schools which further such rule.

We receive many requests for assistance from overseas, sometimes channelled through the British Council, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office or the International Division of the Ministry of Justice, and sometimes direct from overseas jurisdictions. The invitations range from a request to present a paper at a conference to assisting the jurisdiction by undertaking a scoping study and thereafter suggesting how a judicial training project can best be implemented.  Sometimes the work covers a discrete area. At other times it can extend to help in setting up a new training school from scratch.  In addition we regularly host international visitors from overseas jurisdictions at the JSB.