Judicial Education and International Courts

Abstract

Although conventional wisdom suggests that the best way to ensure judicial competence is through appropriate selection processes, recent research suggests that no selection method can ensure the long-term fitness of the judiciary. Instead, judicial education programs are necessary to provide judges with the multiple skills that constitute ‘judgecraft’. Unfortunately, judicial education at the international level is both rare and relatively unsophisticated, as compared to many domestic forms of judicial education. This chapter is the first to analyse judicial education of international judges. The discussion considers the various practical and theoretical problems associated with international judicial education and offers a number of suggestions regarding further academic inquiries and reform initiatives. In particular, the text considers whether self-regulation in this particular field is appropriate and whether any alternatives exist. In so doing, this chapter seeks to increase the real and perceived legitimacy of international adjudication.