French judges are trained specialists screened by exam, not practicing attorneys

Evidence

To become a judge, one must first graduate from a university law school. Law graduates opting for a judicial career must take the examination for admission to the Ecole Nationale de la Magistrature, or National Judicial College, before their twenty-eighth birthday. The exam is highly competitive: in 1988, more than 1300 applicants took the exam, but only 186—77 men and 109 women—were admitted. Those admitted receive professional training in law and the responsibilities of a judge and also serve a probationary period before graduating. — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 788

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to ch3 material contrasting common-law and civil-law judging already extracted (European rulers, common-law judging habits). — connects to: Career-progression review can compromise civil-law judicial independence — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 791