The Role of Judicial Ethics in Court Administration: From Setting the Objectives to Practical Implementation

Abstract A court administration striving to guarantee the independence and professionalism of the court and judges requires attention to judicial ethics. Judicial ethics as a system of professional values and as an institutional instrument of judiciary is an integral part of court administration which is based on the principle of self-regulation. The importance of court administration requires a scientific approach to its elements. Therefore, this article begins by providing analysis of the main objectives of judicial ethics and a comparative study on the European practices establishing judicial ethics. It also provides a systematic list of the basic principles of the conduct of judges that are established in different international standards and legal systems of different European countries. By analysing documents of different international institutions and codes of ethics of European countries, the author identifies a systematic structure and the fundamental starting point of modern judicial ethics. The methods of descriptive comparative analysis and observation of recent developments are dominant in this study. Reacting to the scientific problems and current needs of legal communities with regard to the enforcement of judicial ethics, the article presents approaches that could lead to increased effectiveness of ethics in the judiciary, as well as to the development of methods of enforcement of judicial ethics. The purpose of this article is not just to disclose the main international standards and regulations on judicial ethics in Europe, but also to make it practically valuable for developers of judicial ethics, taking into consideration the fact that recently many countries have been trying to reform and improve ethical systems in the judiciary. Given the limited scope of this article, other important elements of court administration and developing a comparative study of the content of judicial ethics and the jurisprudence of its implementation will be presented in future publications.