The number of applicants to the National School of Judiciary and Public Prosecution has been decreasing for years

How does young people's interest in the judicial and prosecutorial training look? Are there any significant decreases or increases compared to previous years?

Since 2019, we have been observing a systematic decline in the number of people entering the competition for judge and prosecutor apprenticeships. Over the last five years, there has been a decline from 1,765 candidates applying for 100 places on the judge apprenticeship and 80 on the prosecutor apprenticeship in 2019 to 1,167 candidates applying for 150 places on the judge apprenticeship and 70 on the prosecutor apprenticeship in 2024. Determining the reasons for this trend would require conducting a survey among graduates of higher law studies. However, it is possible to indicate certain circumstances that may have a direct impact on the decrease in the number of interested parties. First of all, the number of graduates of higher law studies in Poland is decreasing - which is related to the demographic decline. In 2019, it was 6,799 people, and in 2023, 5,716 - a decrease of almost 16%. Every year, the interest of law graduates in continuing education in all apprenticeships, including advocate, legal adviser, notary and bailiff apprenticeships, also decreases. They have the opportunity to work in corporations directly after their studies, or even during them. In addition, since 2020, competitions for the supplementary judge's apprenticeship and the supplementary prosecutor's apprenticeship have been introduced (with a total number of participants in the years 2020-2024: 2,493 people in the case of the competition for the supplementary judge's apprenticeship and 962 in the case of the competition for the supplementary prosecutor's apprenticeship).

Which universities receive the most applications, which ones get the most admissions, and which ones get the least?

The KSSiP publishes a detailed statistical report on its website every year. These data vary each year. For example, in 2024, the largest number of applicants for the judge's and prosecutor's apprenticeship competition were graduates of the Jagiellonian University (12.3%), followed by the University of Silesia in Katowice (8.7%), Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin (6.4%) and the University of Warsaw (6.2%). The above data shows a close correlation with the number of people accepted for the applications, of whom 24.1% are graduates of the Jagiellonian University, 9.6% of the University of Warsaw and 9.2% of the University of Silesia. Of course, the smallest number of candidates applying for the judge's and prosecutor's apprenticeship competition, when it comes to public universities, concerns graduates of universities from smaller towns - Jan Długosz University in Częstochowa or Kazimierz Pułaski University of Radom. Among those entering last year’s competition, graduates of public universities constituted 88.6%, and among those accepted – as many as 93.9%.

What attracts young people to work as judges and prosecutors? Is it just a matter of money, or also prestige, job security, and a sense of mission?

It is difficult to answer this question unequivocally, because again there is a lack of detailed survey research in this area, and moreover, the significance of the factors mentioned may change over time. Undoubtedly, financial stability guarantees are of great importance for making a decision on choosing this life path, observation and contact with KSSiP trainees convince us that equally important factors are: the possibility of co-shaping, through judicial and prosecutorial service, the future of society and the framework of its functioning, protection of the legal order, the variety of cases and challenges in the professional life of judges and prosecutors, or the possibility of continuous professional development, including through participation in a number of projects organized by KSSiP, such as professional and international training, short-term internships in European institutions (ECHR, CJEU) or foreign exchanges.

Does the current situation in the justice system make law graduates less willing to apply to the KSSiP? Because there is considerable uncertainty as to the status of judges appointed by the current KRS, and the situation in the prosecutor's office is also uncertain.

The unfavourable situation related to the functioning of the National Council of the Judiciary in its current form is undoubtedly a factor of significance in the context of making decisions on the choice of judicial or prosecutorial service by law graduates. There is a real concern related to the possible questioning, after completing training at the National Council of the Judiciary, of the status of assessors and judges, and thus undermining the correctness of their appointment, due to the opinion being issued by a body using the name "National Council of the Judiciary", which does not meet - in accordance with the judgments of the ECtHR, CJEU, Supreme Court and Supreme Administrative Court - the requirement of independence from the legislative and executive power, shaped contrary to case law, positions of doctrine and provisions of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland.

Have you seen any decline or increase in the KSSiP pass rate this year and if so, what could be the reason?

In the context of recruitment for judge and prosecutor apprenticeships, we cannot talk about pass rates due to the current system of setting admission limits by the Minister of Justice. This means that each year, depending on, among other things, the specified limit, the difficulty of the competition test and tasks in the second stage of the competition, the level of preparation of candidates, the point range for admission to judge or prosecutor apprenticeship will be different. In 2024, in order to obtain the status of a trainee of the National School of Judiciary, it was necessary to obtain a total of 162.5 points from both stages of the competition, which constituted 72 percent of the total number of points that could be obtained.