Admit to legal clerkship

An application must be submitted for admission to the legal clerkship (admission to the legal preparatory service). This is decided by the Koblenz Higher Regional Court and admission is granted by issuing the certificate of appointment on the recruitment date.

Please contact the Koblenz Higher Regional Court.

The sole admission authority for Rhineland-Palatinate (Higher Regional Court districts of Koblenz and Zweibrücken) is the President of the Higher Regional Court of Koblenz. The application for admission to the legal clerkship in Rhineland-Palatinate must therefore be addressed to the President of the Higher Regional Court of Koblenz.

Anyone who has passed the so-called first examination after studying law at a university is admitted to the legal training service upon application. The first examination consists of a university specialization examination and a compulsory state examination. If the number of applicants exceeds the number of available training places or the available budget is insufficient, admission is granted in accordance with the "State Ordinance on Admission to the Legal Preparatory Service".

• Application for admission to the legal traineeship
• a signed curriculum vitae (in tabular form or in detail)
• two passport photos (with names on the back)
• an (uncertified) copy of the birth certificate
• if applicable, an (uncertified) copy of the marriage certificate/partnership certificate (which must show the married name/partnership name)
• If applicable, (uncertified) copies of the children's birth certificates
• an (uncertified) copy of the school leaving certificate
• an officially* certified copy of the certificate of the first examination
• If applicable, proof of completed service within the meaning of § 127 para. 4 sentence 1 of the State Civil Service Act (e.g. basic military service/civilian service/voluntary social or ecological year, etc.)
• If applicable, proof that the rejection of the application for admission constitutes an exceptional hardship within the meaning of Section 5 (1) of the state ordinance on admission to the legal preparatory service
• If applicable, proof of early completion of the compulsory state examination (Section 5 d (5) DRiG; so-called "free shot")
• a declaration that a certificate of good conduct for submission to an authority (document type 0) has been requested from the competent registration authority for submission to the President of the Higher Regional Court.

* Note on official certification in Rhineland-Palatinate: The following are authorized to officially certify copies, duplicates and negatives as well as signatures and hand signs (according to § 1 of the state law on certification authority of 21.07.1978 in the currently valid version): the local mayors and local heads, the local authority administrations and municipal administrations of municipalities not belonging to an association, the municipal administrations of independent and large towns belonging to a district, the district administrations, the structural and approval directorates, the supervisory and service directorates, the directors and presidents of the courts, the public prosecutors' offices and general public prosecutors' offices, the prisons, the supreme state authorities, the statutory health insurance funds not dependent on the state, the other authorities within the scope of their material competence.

There are no fees.

Legal trainees in Rhineland-Palatinate are hired on the first working day following May 1 and November 1 of each year. The application documents for the above-mentioned recruitment dates are available for the May date from January and for the November date from July of each year. The application for acceptance into the legal traineeship, including the required documents, must be submitted in full to the President of the Higher Regional Court of Koblenz no later than eight weeks before the respective recruitment date.

• German Judges Act (DRiG)
• State law on legal education (JAG)
• Legal training and examination regulations (JAPO)
• Guidelines for the preparatory service of legal trainees

Complaint to the administrative court

Application for admission to the preparatory legal service

06.08.2021

Can I apply for a specific location?

You can express your preference for a location in your application, but it is not possible to restrict your application to a specific location. In the event of an application, you must therefore agree to training at any of the locations listed below.

Can I specify a preferred location?

As part of your application, you can state your preferred location, but it is not possible to restrict your application to a specific location. In the case of an application, you must therefore agree to training at each of the locations listed below.

What criteria are used to consider location preferences?

When allocating applicants to the individual training locations, the admissions authority or recruitment authority is subject to numerous constraints that do not always make it possible to fulfill the location preference expressed. First of all, the number of training places in the districts of the Higher Regional Court of Koblenz and the Palatinate Higher Regional Court of Zweibrücken is predetermined. The ratio of these two figures alone often does not correspond to the number of applicants who wish to complete their training in the respective districts. In addition, the larger cities and towns located along the Rhine are more sought after by applicants due to their favorable transport connections. However, all training locations in the country, including the smaller and more remote ones, must be filled equally. Furthermore, it is not uncommon for a small court, where only one or two training places are available, to be chosen by several trainee lawyers because they happen to live nearby. However, since there is no entitlement to a desired assignment, the demands on mobility and flexibility may also be quite high. For example, experience has shown that there are far more applications for admission than there are training places available, particularly in the district court of Mainz. For this reason, applicants who express this preference must expect to be assigned to another district for training. In the succession procedure, only those training places that have become vacant again can be allocated. As far as possible, an attempt will be made to take the applicants' wishes into account. If a selection has to be made, social ties (e.g. married, children) will be given top priority. Applicants with an existing employment relationship at the universities of the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, which is to be continued as a part-time job during the traineeship, will also be given priority consideration. In addition, the selection will be based on whether the applicants have an established center of life in the desired district court district (criteria: e.g. long-term residence, school education, apprenticeship, family ties; on the other hand, mere residence as a student, an already rented apartment, engagement are not sufficient), and/or whether there are important reasons (e.g. local council, long-term voluntary work) for the desired location. Finally, applicants from Rhineland-Rhineland-Palatinate will be given preference over those who do not meet any of the above criteria.