Conceição Gomes
Coordinator
UNIFOJ - Legal and Judicial Training Unit – is a project of the Permanent Observatory for Justice (OPJ) of the Centre for Social Studies (CES) of the University of Coimbra, dedicated to advanced professional training in the areas of Law and Justice.
Established in 2012, the unit continued the training programme Justice XXI, developed in 2008 by OPJ, in partnership with the Association of Portuguese Judges and with the Union of Magistrates of the Public Prosecutor's Office. In 2014, e-UNIFOJ - Distance Learning Legal and Judicial Training Unit - was created with the aim of extending its training offer to other professionals, overcoming time and space constraints and providing training regardless of participants’ location and their desired schedule.
UNIFOJ has organised hundreds of courses and provided training to thousands of professionals, both on-site and at a distance.
Certified Training – State Associate Laboratory | DL nr. 396/2007, of 31/12 | DL nr. 125/99, of 20/04 | CES Statutes
Training objectives
UNIFOJ aims at developing appropriate professional training that will significantly contribute to the technical qualification of trainees and to the development of good practices in different areas of law and justice, as well as to further the wide-ranging debate on the administration of justice, with an emphasis on human and fundamental rights.
Concern for high-quality training has led to a threefold commitment: rigorous selection of trainers, diversity of training methodologies, and effective support from a technical secretariat.
UNIFOJ’s training programmes are conceived as spaces for advanced training, focused on the professional competences and needs of its participants, bearing in mind the complexity of the reality at issue. The training courses seek to implement a practical approach of the subjects by crossing expository methodologies with an interactive and dynamic learning, with the aim of equipping trainees with technical and reflexive tools enabling a critical and sustained interpretation of the theoretical or operational solutions and dilemmas.
The training programme is based on two educational proposals: on-site and distance training. On-site training takes place in direct and immediate interaction between trainers and trainees, in various locations, both in Portugal and in other countries, in appropriate facilities. These training courses are held with a minimum number of 12 participants.
Distance learning includes e-learning and b-learning formats.
Distance learning is aimed at all Portuguese-speaking countries, making it possible to attend courses regardless of where the trainees are and, in the case of asynchronous training, at the most opportune time to access the training content.
Learning material to support the training is made available during the course - on the Moodle platform - and is available for two weeks after the end of the course. The lectures - held via the Zoom platform - in many courses are recorded and, after editing, made available on the Moodle platform.
Interaction between trainers and trainees is promoted in the virtual space of the course and in synchronous sessions.
B-learning training combines on-site and distance learning components and aims to meet specific training demands by combining theoretical and practical content.
Technical requirements
Having access to a computer with internet connection and with an updated Internet browser is a requirement to attend the UNIFOJ distance courses. The courses are held through the Zoom and Moodle platforms.
If you have any questions or need technical assistance during the course, please contact: unifoj@ces.uc.pt
UNIFOJ is an integral part of the Permanent Observatory for Justice of the Centre for Social Studies of the University of Coimbra and has its own coordination and advisory board.
Conceição Gomes
CoordinatorThe Advisory Board comprises the OPJ’s Coordinator, personalities of recognised merit and representatives of UNIFOJ's partner entities. The Advisory Board issues opinions on UNIFOJ's activities.
UNIFOJ ensures a rigorous selection of trainers, guaranteeing that its courses are taught by professionals of recognised intellectual, professional and scientific merit, with an academic profile (university professors and researchers), legal professionals (Judicial Magistrates and of Public Prosecution, lawyers and court clerks), registrars, notaries ,and other professionals holding specific and relevant knowledge in the scope of the formative themes.
Partners
UNIFOJ seeks to develop an advanced Legal and Judicial training network, including national and international institutions, aiming at sharing knowledge and experiences and at broadening the principles established in the international documents on professional training in the area of justice. The partners network should establish itself as a tool capable of endowing professionals with a global, multidisciplinary and exhaustive understanding on the application of law and on the attainment of justice. Intending to extend this partner network, UNIFOJ actively seeks to establish protocols with official entities of professional nature towards the recognition of training actions capable of enabling professionals to acquire skills in accordance with the applicable rules for career advancement.