Resumen de Legal experts in public service: Functions at the Ministry Level and their Influence on the Making and Development of Law – Experiences from EU States, especially Germany
The function and role of legal expert at ministry level of European states is very different. The following considerations focus on two major states of central European administration style, France and Germany. Main results of the study are:
Among senior civil servants of the ministries, jurists are clearly predominant in Germany. Conversely, in France they do not play a significant role, as the recruitment of senior civil servants is done via the central training at ENA. The basis of both models however is the same: to ensure the highest possible degree of comparability in the qualifications of newly appointed officials. The EC recruits their jurists similar to the German model, that is based on their legal qualifications.
Following from this, the role of jurists in drafting bills is also different: In Germany their role is central, in France it is marginal and instead the influence of ENA graduates is dominant. In the EU Commission, jurists in the Directorates-General have, like in Germany, great influence on the elaboration of draft bills.
In both France and Germany the training of senior officials in the ministries is largely the same as the training of judges for the administrative courts.
