Administrative services A-Z

The second state examination in law is the final part of your legal training and is intended to show whether you are qualified to hold the office of judge and higher general administrative service.

The second state legal examination is prepared and conducted by the Joint Legal Examination Office of the states of Berlin and Brandenburg (GJPA).

The second state examination in law is divided into a written and an oral part. The subject of the examinations are the compulsory subjects specified in § 17 para. 2 in conjunction with § 3 para. 2 sentence 1 BbgJAG and the contents of the training in the compulsory stages of the legal preparatory service. Successful completion of the written examination is a prerequisite for admission to the oral examination.

As part of the written part of the examination, seven supervised assignments must be completed over seven working days with tasks on civil law, criminal law and public law. The papers are supervised and each takes five hours to complete.

To pass the written examination, you must:

• achieve an average of at least 3.50 points and have received at least four points in each of at least four supervised assignments or,
• achieve an average of at least 4.00 points and have received at least four points in each of at least three supervised assignments.

The oral examination consists of a ten-minute presentation, a five-minute in-depth discussion and an examination interview in three sections. Each section relates to a compulsory subject. The oral examination should last approximately 45 minutes. Four individual marks are awarded for the oral examination.

Following the oral examination, the examination board discusses the assessment and informs the candidate of the result with the final score from the written and oral examination. The certificate for the second state examination in law provides information on passing the examination and the final score.

Admission to the preparatory legal service

The requirements for admission, conduct and grading of the second state examination in law are regulated in §§ 16 to 18 BbgJAG in conjunction with §§ 27 to 33 BbgJAO.

Please note that the legal preparatory service is the responsibility of the Brandenburg Higher Regional Court and is prepared and carried out by it.

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The second state examination in law is divided into the following procedural steps:

1. The written examination takes place in the 20th month of the legal traineeship. You will receive a summons to the written examination by letter approximately three to four weeks before the examination date.
2. The second state law examination consists of a written and an oral part. You must pass the written part of the examination in order to be admitted to the oral part.
3. For the written part, seven supervised papers must be completed. The papers are supervised and each takes five hours to complete over seven working days.
4. To pass the written examination, you must:

• achieve an average of at least 3.50 points and have received at least four points in each of at least four supervised assignments or,
• achieve an average of at least 4.00 points and have received at least four points in each of at least three supervised assignments.

5. The oral examination consists of a ten-minute presentation, a five-minute in-depth discussion and an examination interview in three sections. Each section relates to a compulsory subject. The oral examination should last approximately 45 minutes.
6. If you have failed the second state law examination once, you can repeat it once.

The second state law examination usually takes place in March, June, September and December of each year. The respective dates and deadlines can be found in the information provided by the GJPA.

• See also

Joint Legal Examination Office of the States of Berlin and Brandenburg

at the
Senate Department for Justice, Consumer Protection and Anti-Discrimination

Joint Legal Examination Office of the states of Berlin and Brandenburg

Office hours generally:
Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays 9.00 a.m. - 12.30 p.m.
Information and advice - Office, Tel. 030/9013 - 3317

• Section 5 et seq. German Judges' Act (DRiG)

On the GJPA website you will find extensive information on the second state examination in law.

• Https://www.berlin.de/sen/justiz/juristenausbildung/juristische-pruefungen/artikel.263960.php

Ministry of Justice of the State of Brandenburg