Applications open: EPSO Lawyer-Linguists | CJEU

The European Personnel Selection Office (EPSO) has officially launched the 2025 Lawyer-Linguist competition for the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), with applications opening on Thursday, 24 April 2024. If you have legal qualifications and exceptional language skills, this is a golden opportunity to embark on a legal career within the EU institutions.

Here’s everything you need to know about the latest EPSO Lawyer-Linguist competition.

This EPSO competition focuses on recruiting lawyer-linguists for the CJEU in 8 official EU languages.

Scroll down to explore the particulars of this competition and which test types are part of the selection process.

Want to connect with other candidates?

Join the EPSO Lawyer-Linguists Facebook group to share tips and experiences.

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COMPETITION SNAPSHOT

• EPSO reference #: EPSO/AD/424/25
• Open for Applications: 24 April, 2025
• Application Deadline: 28 May 2025 (12:00 PM / Brussels time)
• Grade: AD7
• This competition covers eight language profiles - you may only apply to one
• Posts will be based in Luxembourg (Luxembourg)

155 successful laureates are being sought in total for the reserve lists, from which the Court of Justice of the European Union will recruit the most highly qualified lawyer-linguists.

What does the role involve?

Lawyer-linguists at the Court of Justice of the EU are responsible for translating complex legal texts into the language of the competition from at least two other official EU languages. Key duties include translating documents such as court judgments, opinions from Advocates General, and parties’ written pleadings, reviewing translations, and carrying out legal analysis in collaboration with the Court’s Registries and other departments.

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ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

GENERAL requirements

• Have EU citizenship
• Fulfilled any military service requirements
• Meet the character requirements for the duties concerned

SPECIFIC requirements

Know at least THREE official EU languages

1. Czech - Danish - Estonian - Finnish - Latvian - Swedish

• Language 1: Have thorough knowledge (C2 level - mother tongue or equivalent) of your chosen language of the competition.
• Language 2: Satisfactory knowledge of French (minimum C1 level) 
• Language 3: Satisfactory knowledge (minimum C1 level) of English, German, Italian, Polish, Spanish

2. ​French

• Language 1: Have thorough knowledge, C2 level - mother tongue or equivalent - of French (the language you chose for the competition)
• Language 2: Satisfactory knowledge  (minimum C1 level) of one of these languages: Dutch, English, German, Greek, Italian, Polish,  or Spanish
• Language 3: Satisfactory knowledge (minimum C1 level) of any other EU language other than your chosen Language 1 and 2.

3. Italian

• Language 1: Have thorough knowledge, C2 level - mother tongue or equivalent - of Italian (the language you chose for the competition)
• Language 2: Satisfactory knowledge  (minimum C1 level) of French.
• Language 3: Satisfactory knowledge (minimum C1 level) of one of these languages: English, German, Greek Polish, Romanian, Slovenian, Spanish

Qualifications & Work Experience

• Have a level of education that corresponds to completed university studies, attested by qualifications required for the specific language profile you are applying for.
• Please consult section 3.3 of the Notice of Competition for the specific qualifications sought for each competition listed in this notice.  
• No professional experience is required, unless the candidate only has a three-year university diploma. This is detailed in the same section linked above.

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SELECTION PROCESS

Competition Phases

1. APPLICATION

Candidates applying to this competition must submit their application online through the EPSO website's Single Candidate Portal by 28 May 2025 at noon / Luxembourg time. The application can be submitted in any official EU language.

Then, the next step is for candidates to upload, through their EPSO accounts, scanned copies of documents that support the declarations made in their applications. This has to be done latest by 7 October 2025 at noon / Luxembourg time.

2. TESTS

All EPSO candidates who submit and validate their applications by the due date will be invited to sit a series of tests:

a) REASONING TESTS

The EPSO Reasoning Skills test must be done in your Language 1. These are multiple-choice tests that assess your verbal, numerical and abstract reasoning skills. This test is pass/fail and does not count towards your final score.

b) TRANSLATION TESTS

To evaluate candidate's language skills candidates must complete these translation tests without the use of a dictionary or other resources.

3. SCORING & ELIGIBILITY CHECK

• Reasoning tests are scored first. Only candidates who pass these will move on.
• Eligibility is then checked for those who passed, based on their application and supporting documents.
• Eligible candidates’ translation tests are scored.
• Those who pass the translation test will have their translation review test scored.
• Scores from both tests are added together, maximum total: 160.
• Candidates are ranked by total score within each competition, which determines the reserve list.

4. RESERVE LIST

The EPSO Selection Board will draw up the Reserve Lists of eligible candidates for each profile, in descending order of highest overall scores, until the number of places sought is reached.

The final Reserve Lists are not ranked, they are in alphabetical order. The candidates who made it onto the Reserve List will be notified directly by EPSO. The Reserve Lists will then be made available to recruiting services of the Court of Justice.

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HOW CAN YOU APPLY?

Always carefully read the official EPSO Notice of Competition to fully understand the rules for your specific competition. Make sure to also review the General Rules Governing Open Competitions to confirm that you meet the eligibility criteria and have the required qualifications before applying.

If you haven’t done so already, your first step is to create an EPSO account.

The link to your specific profile page will appear here once EPSO officially opens applications.

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GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR EPSO EXAM!

If you have any questions or need help preparing for this competition, the EU Training Customer Service Team is here to support you, feel free to get in touch.

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