Public participation as a key principle of the openness of the judiciary: genesis and globalization aspects

Abstract

Annotation. The article analyzes the historical-legal and recent globalization trends in the development of the principle of public participation as a factor of judicial openness. It was established that open governance guarantees transparency, accountability and openness of government, while simultaneously increasing opportunities for citizen participation. It has been proven that it is in demand in the exercise of judicial power. The genesis aspects of the formation of the judiciary were characterized by the fact that the parties to the process depended on the favor of the rulers for the right to participate in the courts: not all individuals were authorized to file lawsuits, testify, serve as a professional or public assessor, even the right to be a plaintiff. The author singled out historical aspects of the development of the openness of the judiciary: overcoming the selectivity of the participation of individuals in the process; development of the accessibility of the judicial process for all without discrimination on various grounds; spreading the openness of judicial information as a means of achieving the legal educational function of the government and a way of preventing crime; the direct connection between the development of the principle of openness and the development of political human rights. The existence of two concepts of the understanding of open justice is motivated: a quick and public trial, based on the norms of law, which are highlighted in the Bill of Rights of the United States of 1791, and the fairness and accessibility of the court, which is highlighted in the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of 1950. The global trends of changes in public participation in the judiciary under the influence of the development of the information environment are indicated. The latter provides wider opportunities for access to the court. The openness of the court is not only the main demand of people for judicial work, but also a channel for demonstrating judicial justice. The following problems of the modern stage of legal support of the principle of court openness have been identified: the complexity of guaranteeing (a combination of legal and technical mechanisms) the information availability of the judiciary; providing the latest opportunities for judicial information analysis by overcoming the classic selective approach by using the data systematization method.