Vice-Rector for Cooperation and International Relations dr hab. Anna Jurkowska-Zeidler, prof. UG signed on behalf of the University of Gdańsk an agreement between the university, the National School of Judiciary and Public Prosecution and the Minister of Justice. The agreement paves the way for the establishment of a new facility in Gdańsk, increasing access to legal education in the north of Poland.
The agreement, signed on February 24, 2025, at the headquarters of the Ministry of Justice, is a follow-up to the letter of intent signed on September 6, 2024 (we wrote about the event here) and aims to solve the problem of the insufficient number of law graduates from northern Poland who start their judicial and prosecutor apprenticeships.
The document was signed by: the Director of the National School of Judiciary and Public Prosecution, Piotr Girdwoyń, the Vice-Rector for Cooperation and International Relations at the University of Gdańsk, dr hab. Anna Jurkowska-Zeidler, prof. UG, and the Deputy Minister of Justice, Arkadiusz Myrcha.
‘We are in the process of opening a branch of the National School of Judiciary and Public Prosecution in Gdańsk. The aim of this initiative is to encourage law graduates from northern Poland to train to become prosecutors and judges. The current location of the school, mainly in Kraków, causes a significant disproportion in the number of candidates from northern and southern Poland,’ said Deputy Minister Myrcha during the meeting.
‘This is, of course, an increase in the prestige of legal education at the Faculty of Law and Administration of the University of Gdańsk, but also a strategic step towards strengthening Gdańsk as a centre of legal education. We are already thinking about new research and teaching initiatives related to the justice system. Joint educational initiatives and additional flexible education paths are also possible, not only for court and prosecutor's office staff, but also for other legal corporations in Pomerania. Therefore, we hope that the KSSiP branch in Gdańsk will be an impulse for good changes for the entire legal community in the region,’ says dr hab. Anna Jurkowska-Zeidler, prof. UG.
The Gdańsk branch of the Academy of Law will be the first in northern Poland. It will give young lawyers from the region access to a high level of education without having to travel to Kraków. The facility will train court and prosecutor's office trainees, judges, prosecutors, prosecutor's office assessors, assistants and officials.
The Polish judiciary has been struggling with serious staffing problems for years. One of the main factors is the insufficient number of law graduates from the northern and central provinces of Poland. This makes it difficult to fill judicial positions in courts and prosecutor's offices located in smaller cities in these regions. The establishment of a branch of the National School of Judiciary and Public Prosecution in Gdańsk is an important step towards improving access to legal education in northern Poland and strengthening the judiciary and public prosecution service in the region.
The National School of Judiciary and Public Prosecution (KSSiP) in Kraków was established on 4 March 2009. It is the only central institution responsible for the initial and continuing training of judiciary and prosecution staff in Poland. The school runs legal profession training programmes, trains judges and prosecutors, and conducts analyses and research, allowing for the development of appropriate standards regarding the competence and qualifications of judicial staff.
