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Amid outcry against France's courts, who has the most and fewest judges in the EU?

Mounting criticism of France's justice system following the murder of a schoolgirl has revived debate over judicial resources. With judges in short supply, how does Europe compare?

READ MORE : http://www.euronews.com/2026/06/10/amid-outcry-against-frances-courts-who-has-the-most-and-fewest-judges-in-the-eu

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00:00Failures in France's justice system have triggered fury across the country following the murder of a schoolgirl.
00:06But who has the most and the fewest judges in the EU?
00:13The murder of a French schoolgirl has sparked outrage with the country's judicial system
00:18after it emerged that authorities had failed to fully investigate the suspected killer
00:23about previous allegations of child sexual abuse.
00:26The news has prompted criticisms that the French judiciary is under-invested and lacking resources.
00:33According to the Council of Europe, France had around 11 professional judges per 100,000 people in 2022,
00:40significantly less than the European average of 22.
00:44How does the rest of Europe compare?
00:46The EU has seen an almost 12% decrease in professional judges between 2019 and 2024,
00:51with 2024 registering 70,348 professional judges, according to the latest Eurostat figures.
01:00Eastern European countries traditionally have a higher number of judges and non-judge staff per inhabitant,
01:06which the Council of Europe puts down to them, being largely influenced by Germanic law.
01:11In the EU, Croatia, Slovenia and Greece had the highest number of professional judges per 100,000 inhabitants in 2022.
01:18In contrast, the countries of Western and Southern Europe,
01:21whose legal systems are based on Nordic law, common law and Napoleonic law,
01:26have fewer professional judges per 100,000 inhabitants.
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