"The scholarship made it easier for my parents to accept my application to become a judge."

BarcelonaMelanie Barba finished second in her class to qualify for the public prosecutor exam and in a few weeks will begin her internship in Madrid, where she is completing her training. Early next year, she will be a public prosecutor and will return to Catalonia to practice. Judge Isabel Olmos, born in Barcelona, ​​issued her first ruling in a court in Sant Boi de Llobregat and has been serving in the Fourth Chamber of the Supreme Court for about two months. Both have in common that they prepared for the exam with the help of a scholarship from the Generalitat (Catalan government), which, after more than a decade,The inactive exams resumed in 2022. This Tuesday, the call opens again for those who want to prepare to become a judge, prosecutor, or legal representative in the administration of justice.

"If you don't have an income, you want to finish as soon as possible and you want to get out of the situation as soon as possible. The scholarship resource allowed you not to be so confused," says Barba, who is from Manresa and while preparing for the exam would go to Barcelona once a week to review the syllabus with the judge (Cejfe), who awards the scholarships. She is now 27 years old and it took her three years to pass, but the average time to pass this exam is about five years. For her, she says, the scholarship was "a great help in years of uncertainty, a situation of impasse in which you cannot work."

The economic issue also influenced when the current Supreme Court justice Isabel Olmos decided, about 35 years ago, to take the exam to become a judge. "My father used to cut out the newspaper's job postings so I could work as a lawyer," recalls Olmos, who explains that despite "not being from a very humble family," the fact that there were five siblings meant that at home they preferred her to opt for a job where she could start working immediately and not wait for the competitive examination process. "The scholarship made it easier for them not to oppose it," she explains.

Avoiding Constant Rotation

One of the objectives of these scholarships is to alleviate the constant turnover of judges, prosecutors, and lawyers in Catalonia. "The percentage of people who participate in the selection processes is low compared to the population and, therefore, the number of judicial bodies to be filled," explains Marc Cerón, director of the Cejfe (Federal Judicial Commission of Catalonia). In fact, the first posting of new judges is usually in Catalonia, although Catalans tend to make up a small proportion of the applicants. The fact that judges from other regions occupy their first postings in Catalonia means that, when they can request a transfer, they prefer to move closer to their families, and the position often remains vacant.

Furthermore, Cerón explains, it is important to keep in mind that Catalan civil law differs from that of the Spanish state, and the fact that the judges who come to Catalonia are not Catalan does not contribute to improving the number of rulings in Catalan, which remain at around 6%. "We need to encourage more people to participate in these processes," he says.

1,184 euros per candidate

The scholarships for preparing for the competitive examination are valid for four years and amount to €1,184 per month. These scholarships are designed to cover the costs of preparing for the exam and some personal expenses, as preparing for the competitive examinations requires full-time dedication, which is incompatible with a job. In total, there are 50 scholarships—10 reserved for candidates for legal qualifications—and the Government allocates €2.8 million, which is part of the Cejfe (Federal Electoral Commission) budget, which also employs tutors and monitors students.

Part of the training includes simulations of the oral exams that candidates will have to face. "The High Court of Justice of Catalonia (TSJC) has provided us with a room that closely resembles the Supreme Court's environment, where they will later take the oral exams," explains Cerón. They also offer candidates psychological support in group sessions.

The candidates who received the scholarship in 2022 are now enjoying the third of four years of assistance from the Cejfe (Cejfe). At that time, there were around one hundred applications for 50 scholarships, and seven of the candidates have already passed the exams. Those who do not succeed during the four-year scholarship period will be able to continue trying on their own. In the 2025 edition, income has been eliminated as a requirement for applying for the scholarship, but it will be taken into account when awarding them, along with academic records.