Judicial Appointments

This Venice Commission report focuses on choosing an appropriate model for judicial appointments. It introduces the importance of the appointment system, and separates them into two main categories: elective systems, where judges are elected either by the people or parliament, and direct appointment systems, where the Head of State, government, or a judicial council directly appoints the judges. The second part of the report focuses on the role of a judicial council. Specifically, the report expands on its recommendation that a judicial council have a decisive influence in the appointment, promotion, and discipline of judges. It also expands on the composition of judicial councils, and particularly how to balance between judicial independence and self-administration, and the report ends with a discussion on the criteria for chair of the council, the basis upon which judicial appointments should be made, and the inadvisability of appointing judges on a probationary basis.