A/HRC/20/20 and criminal trials, and this has been taken into consideration by those promoting changes in their respective judicial system. 34. Such change is related to each country’s political and sovereign decision to modify (or not) its own legal system. The Special Rapporteur wishes to point out the importance of such a political decision in the sense that, when it is made, it should be strong in order to give support and implement all the indispensable actions to ensure the effectiveness of that change. It means that, besides adapting buildings or establishing infrastructure, capacitybuilding and training on the new legal system should be provided to all legal professionals and judicial actors. Such training lies far beyond the mere study of the text of the new law; it implies a profound cultural change. 35. Changes in the legal system also require the adaptation of the curricula of legal and judicial courses and trainings, starting with the initial education of those who study law at university. The assessment of the effectiveness of judicial activities during a transition from one judicial system to another is crucial, especially in order to identify what further measures should be taken. During the Special Rapporteur’s official mission to Colombia, the State had recently decided to migrate from a civil law-based system of criminal procedure to a common law-based one by establishing a public oral accusatory system. The Special Rapporteur was informed of the existence of capacity-building programmes for judges under the new system; she was also told, however, that a group of judges had just received a training course based on civil law through a partnership that had been established with a foreign institution. During her official mission to Mexico, the Special Rapporteur observed that the State had also decided to change its criminal procedural system and that the changes still needed to be promoted and implemented. 1. Career and promotion of judges, prosecutors and public defenders 36. The career of judicial actors usually begins with oral and written public examinations: 62.1 per cent in the case of judges, 59.2 per cent in the case of prosecutors, 69.4 per cent in the case of lawyers, and 48.6 per cent in the case of public defenders. According to the information contained in the replies received, the second most common way to start a legal career is by election, appointment or nomination by the executive organ (36.7 per cent in the case of prosecutors and 29.3 per cent for judges). It was pointed out that practical experience is required prior to admission to judicial and prosecutorial careers (in 68.9 per cent and 37.7 per cent respectively). 10