In this issue

• First page
• News and Programmatic Highlights
  • ASIL Sidebar
  • IJA Docket
  • Cases of Note
• Opinion and Commentary
  • Global Judicial Dialogue
  • General Principles of International Law
  • Leading Figures in International Law
  • Justice Sector Assessment
  • In Review: New Publications on International and Comparative Law
• Justice in Profile
• International Tribunal Spotlight
• Significant Judicial Developments
• International Resources
• Calendar of Events

ASIL Sidebar

Judicial Independence and Integrity

Numerous international standards have emerged over the past several decades emphasizing the relationship of an impartial and ethical judge to judicial independence and the fundamental right to a fair trial.

Notable among these globally relevant standards are the Bangalore Principles on Judicial Conduct and the UN Basic Principles on the Independence of the Judiciary.

In addition, the 2003 United Nations Convention Against Corruption, (signatories: 140; ratifications/accessions: 103) obligates states parties to take affirmative steps to strengthen judicial integrity and combat corruption within the judiciary without undermining judicial independence. 

Maintaining judicial independence while combating judicial corruption through greater accountability and transparency is a challenge that confronts judiciaries in mature and emerging democracies alike. The challenge is complex: one with legal, political, and socio-economic contributing factors such as the absence of ethics codes or comparable instruments, low salaries, poor education, lack of objective criteria for judicial selection and advancement, and political interference in judicial decision making.    

Many of these issues were addressed recently at an ASIL-supported Regional Roundtable on Judicial Integrity at the CEELI Institute in Prague. The event gathered judges from supreme and constitutional courts in central and southeastern Europe and the Caucasus for two days of intensive trans-judicial dialogue.      

In addition to considering how to strengthen judicial integrity and public confidence in the judiciary through random case assignment, financial asset disclosure, and prohibition on ex parte communications, roundtable participants supported a leading role for judicial councils in the selection, promotion, and disciplining of judges. 

Participants also emphasized how important it is for judiciaries and courts to combat the perception of judicial corruption by publicly posting information about court proceedings, including judgments, and educating the public and the media on judicial procedures and judicial conduct.

Issues related to promoting judicial integrity and ethics were also the focus of the Third International Conference on the Training of the Judiciary. This conference, which took place October 21-25, 2007, provided a forum for judges and judicial educators from various legal traditions to exchange information and “best practices” in developing educational programs and training methodologies in the areas of ethics that ultimately strengthen judicial independence, integrity and accountability. ASIL facilitated the attendance of judges and educators from emerging democracies and developing countries with funding from the Lenfest Foundation as part of its efforts to strengthen the effectiveness and efficiency of courts as a fundamental pillar of the international rule of law.     

Other recent ASIL programs and activities for judges and the legal profession as a whole, in both the United States and abroad, include the following: 

• Support for the 2007 Sir Richard May Seminar on International Law and International Courts in The Hague organized by the International Judicial Academy; 

• Speaker Series on The Future of International Law at ASIL’s Tillar House featuring Professor Jose Alvarez, US Department of State Legal Adviser John Bellinger, and Judge Patricia Wald; 

• Co-sponsorship of a DC Bar event on International Court of Justice: The Road Ahead; and  

• Publication of several ASIL Insights on judicial related topics such as the recent decision of the International Court of Justice in the Case concerning Territorial and Maritime Dispute between Nicaragua and Honduras in the Caribbean Sea  the opinion of the European Court of Human Rights regarding privacy protections in Copeland v. United Kingdom, the German Constitutional Court’s ruling on necessity under general international law, and the use of foreign and international law materials by the U.S. Supreme Court to inform its interpretation of the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act.     

Andrew Solomon, ASIL Director of Programs

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