Since the 19th century, it has been part of German legal tradition that the goal of a Volljurist, that is to say a graduate in law who has passed both stages of his or her degree examinations, is to qualify for appointment to the office of a judge. The principle that all universities provide the same training up to the first degree examination, which qualifies graduates as Einheitsjuristen, or general law graduates, still holds good. 

The ideal of the Einheitsjurist has largely proved to be a successful model. Yet conditions in the field do not tally with the content of academic curricula. The Federal Government has also begun to realise this. Accordingly, in its new work programme for better regulation and bureaucracy reduction, published in 2018, the Federal Government has called for the formulation of a continuing-training strategy for staff of the public administration who are involved in the preparation of legislative or policymaking initiatives. Among the aims of this training would be to develop the competence and skills required for the drafting of practical, addressee-focused legal provisions.   

Even where curricula do contain elements of interest for future drafters of legislation, these elements must be tailored still more to that future work. Students could then obtain an additional perspective on the law. Those who learn how to draft legal provisions will also be better able to interpret and apply them.   

For this reason, the Deutsche Gesellsschaft Für Gesetzgebung made the following proposals and requests with a view to improving the teaching of legislative studies in Germany.

Read the proposals here.