Goal V - Education for Branchwide Professional Excellence

Professional excellence is the standard and expectation for all judicial officers and court personnel throughout California’s judicial branch. The judicial branch must provide ongoing professional development, education, and training to continuously improve the administration of justice and address many concerns areas of change, including:

  1. Increasing complexity of the law and court procedures.
  2. Emerging legal and ethical issues.
  3. New and emerging practices in treating behavioral disorders and addictions.
  4. New technologies.
  5. Succession planning through accelerated management and executive development programs.
  6. Importance of procedural fairness in all court operations and interactions with the public.
  7. Addressing implicit bias and fostering inclusion within the judicial branch workforce and with court users.
  8. New management, operational, and service-level expectations.

Additionally, the challenges of a resource-competitive environment mean the branch must actively pursue partnerships and other innovative ways and means to provide professional development, education, and training opportunities for all members of the branch. Maintaining branchwide professional excellence will promote public trust and confidence in the judicial branch.

For policy details, please see the complete Judicial Branch Strategic Plan.
Graphic version  |  Text only version 

Recommended Best Practices

  1. Provide access for all judicial branch personnel to essential, relevant education and professional development opportunities at all stages of their careers.
  2. Maintain and enhance branchwide professional development by continually identifying new subject-matter experts and developing new qualified, diverse, faculty, and inclusive educational resources, and service-delivery approaches.
  3. Create and maintain education-based partnerships between judicial branch entities and institutes of higher learning, nonprofit organizations, and other professional organizations to maximize shared use of learning resources and to ensure branchwide access to comprehensive and relevant educational content.
  4. Increase access for judicial branch personnel to continuing education opportunities; enhance local courts’ educational resources and environments.
  5. Promote public trust and confidence in the judicial branch by establishing and maintaining high standards of professionalism, ethics, and performance for judicial branch personnel.