Admission to certain professions requires exams, in some cases many and difficult. This happens in the case of those who are preparing for admission to the profession of lawyer or magistrate – that is, to become a judge or prosecutor.
Until the final exam, to be finalized, lawyers have to pass the professional admission exam – for admission to the Bar, to become trainees. Once admitted to the Bar, young lawyers are trained at the National Institute for the Training and Improvement of Lawyers (INPPA) for two years. There they have to pass other exams, in subjects such as civil law and civil procedural law, criminal law and criminal procedural law, European labor law, organization of the lawyer profession, etc. Obviously, all this after the license exam, respectively the exams passed during the four years of college.
What does the exam for admission to the profession of lawyer entail
The most important and most difficult exam for new lawyers is the one for admission to the profession, respectively for admission to the Bar. The official data reflects it perfectly. According to the National Union of Romanian Bar Associations (UNBR), at the April 2024 session, around 26% of people passed the exam, after the resolution of appeals. The best result was 9.40. The weakest, 0.9.
Similar results are recorded in every admission session. In some sessions, in previous years, before appeals, even worse results were reported: 6% passed in 2020, 12% in 2019. The exam is grid-based, comprising five subjects of 20 grids each. The exam subjects are: civil law, civil procedural law, criminal law, criminal procedural law and the organization and practice of the lawyer profession. There is no official point, the minimum grade for passing is 7.0, so at least 70 grids solved correctly. Also, for each of the four subjects, at least 10 grids must be solved correctly.
Lose weight quickly and easily with the help of Lipovon. Natural ingredients. Immediate delivery.
lawyer Adrian Cuculis believes that the level of difficulty of the bar exam is high. The first test is comparable to the one for admission to the National Institute of Magistracy (INM) or to the magistracy.
“The fact that the success rate for admission to the bar is quite low is also due to the fact that the entrance exams to the profession do not differ at all in terms of difficulty from the entrance exams to the magistracy, which means that after a longer period of time, of trials, the two professions can be seen from the point of view of training professionals equally”, commented the lawyer, for Newspapers.com.
According to the lawyer Ilia Dorinthe very poor numbers are explained by the fact that aspirants to the profession of lawyer do not prepare thoroughly.
“The pass rate is about 20% on each exam because those who really study hard are in the minority. Many take this exam thinking it’s a little more difficult than a college subject exam. Many candidates do not take this exam seriously and do not prepare thoroughly. All who prepare thoroughly for 1-2 years take this exam safely. Anyone learning, take this exam. The 80% who are rejected are those who did not take the exam seriously or have deficiencies and deficiencies regarding material or procedural law. The exam is a tough, serious one, and as such requires serious, rigorous preparation”, declared Ilie Dorin, for Newspapers.com.
The process for admission to the profession of magistrate, even more difficult
For admission to the profession of magistrate, the exam includes several stages. After grid theoretical sampleit follows theoretical essay test, two psychological exam samples (interview and written test), the interview before the commissionthen the “filter”/reputation test. The whole process takes about six months.
“The examination for admission to the profession of lawyer is easier than that for entry into the profession of magistrate and equally difficult for entry into other legal professions. You enter the bar only on the basis of the grids, while in the magistracy there are a series of other exams and additional tests, plus the two years of study and examinations within the INM for those who enter the main gate of the magistracy.
In law, the internship, the INPPA, the market, the clientele are the “exams and additional tests”. Like any exam, the degree of difficulty differs from candidate to candidate. A well-prepared candidate will take the exam in the first or second test. It’s about perseverance in learning, perseverance that you also need later, to practice”, said Ilie Dorin, for Newspapers.com.
In the past, at a time when the salary was not competitive, and there were no other benefits, admission to the magistracy was much simpler, claims Adrian Cuculis.
“It is true that I had a period of sad memory when almost only if you didn’t want it you didn’t become a magistrate, and this can be seen even today, in the pronounced decisions, in the serious fragments of legal logic found in such decisions. Unfortunately, that period of sad memory is now reflected in the highest courts in the country, which obviously does great disservice to the judiciary as a whole.
Here we are referring, for example, to sentencing decisions that were later annulled through extraordinary appeals, something that actually denotes a wrong application of the Magistrate’s Law. However, what I have explained above must be seen through the eyes of a legal professional, from my own experience, and it is possible that other people will not agree with what I say”, commented lawyer Cuculis, for Newspapers.com.
For admission to INM, the number of available places is fixed. In the last round of admission, 300 judicial auditor positions were put up for competition (for two years, future magistrates are trained as judicial auditors). Less than 20% of applicants got a place.
See comments (2)
Tags: hardest exams Romania candidates succeed Explanations professionals field
-
