Instructing Judges: Ethical Experience and Educational Technique

Most professional responsibility textbooks do not discuss judicial conduct, and not surprisingly, many judges find themselves unprepared for the ethical dilemmas they face when they make the transition from partisan advocate to neutral arbiter. Gray and Zemans discuss the nine-topic curriculum for judicial educators to use to teach judicial ethics to judges at programs for new judges, continuing judicial education courses and judicial conferences

Judicial Restraint?

An independent judiciary is one of the cornerstones of American democracy and the rule of law. But increasing challenges to the authority of judges have many in the legal community concerned about maintaining the rightful balance of power

A Survey of Studies on Judicial Selection

The Alaska legislature is considering a bill — Senate Joint Resolution 3 — that would put before voters a state constitutional amendment to change the composition of the Alaska Judicial Council and the way its members are selected. The Alaska Judicial Council plays a constitutionally-mandated role in the selection of Alaska’s judges and also makes recommendations to voters concerning retaining or not retaining judges as part of the judicial retention election process. This article reviews selected existing studies relevant to potential effects of this proposed change to the council composition — studies that examined judicial effectiveness, responsiveness of judges to public opinion, and public perception of judges. Also provided are flowcharts of the selection processes for members of the Alaska Judicial Council and of judges of the Alaska Court System; a detailed table of judicial selection methods in U.S. states and the District of Columbia; and a bibliography.Studies on Nominating Commissions / Measures of Voter Satisfaction / Objective Measures of Judicial Performance / Complexity of Judicial Decisions / Judicial Productivity and Independence / Politicization of Judicial Elections / Conclusion / Resources on Judicial Selection (bibliography) / References (bibliography)Ye

New Forms of Judicial Review and the Persistence of Rights - And Democracy-Based Worries

Recent developments in judicial review have raised the possibility that the debate over judicial supremacy versus legislative supremacy might be transformed into one about differing institutions to implement judicial review. Rather than posing judicial review against legislative supremacy, the terms of the debate might be over having institutions designed to exercise forms of judicial review that accommodate both legislative supremacy and judicial implementation of constitutional limits. After examining some of these institutional developments in Canada, South Africa, and Great Britain, this Article asks whether these accommodations, which attempt to pursue a middle course, have characteristic instabilities that will in the long run lead constitutional systems back to wither judicial or legislative supremacy

The Judiciary and Education Reform: A Reassessment

Professor Areen examines the judicial attempt to provide equal educational opportunity, and questions the basic premises upon which judicial intervention is based. The author concludes that judicial efforts to equalize educational opportunity have been misdirected. The goals sought to be attained by judicial intervention must be reconsidered before an effective education can be provided for all

Comment: Judicial Accountability and Discipline

The judicial disciplinary process and the specter of politically motivated misconduct allegations against state judges poses an important challenge to judicial independence

Comment: Judicial Accountability and Discipline

The judicial disciplinary process and the specter of politically motivated misconduct allegations against state judges poses an important challenge to judicial independence

Belgium's new specialized judiciary

This brief national report was written for the First Siberian Legal Forum on the ‘Specialization of Judges and Courts: Comparative and Russian Context.’ It gives an overview of the Belgian judicial structure. After a short analysis of the judicial organization before 2014, that presents an outline of the Belgian first instance and appellate courts, particular attention is paid to the comprehensive judicial reforms of 2014. The enlargement of the judicial districts and the introduction of (internal and external) judicial mobility will lead to more specialized courts and judges. The creation of a Family and Juvenile Court and the re-allocation of some civil and commercial competences, between the Justice of the Peace and the Commercial Court, will have the same effect. Nevertheless, this report concludes that the 2014 reform is a missed opportunity to create a large ‘unified’ district court in which all first instance courts are merged.</span