COMMENTARY ON THE BANGALORE PRINCIPLES …

1 Vienna International Centre, Box 500, 1400 Vienna, Austria Tel: (+43-1) 26060-0, Fax: (+43-1) 26060-5866, in September 2007 2000 COMMENTARY ON THE BANGALORE PRINCIPLESOF judicial 24/09/2007 12:13 Page 1 united nations office on Drugs and crime COMMENTARY on The BANGALORE PRINCIPLES of judicial conduct September 2007 2 Image on cover page designed by Ms. Nancy Cao, UNODC 3 CONTENTS .. 5 Acknowledgment .. 7 Drafting history.. 9 The BANGALORE PRINCIPLES of judicial conduct Preamble .. 23 Value 1: .. 39 Value 2: Impartiality .. 57 Value 3: .. 79 Value 4.

2 85 Value 5: Equality .. 121 Value 6: Competence and diligence .. 129 Implementation .. 145 Annex: Cultural and religious 147 Select 161 Index .. 165 4 5 PREFACE A judiciary of undisputed integrity is the bedrock institution essential for ensuring compliance with democracy and the rule of law. Even when all other protections fail, it provides a bulwark to the public against any encroachments on rights and freedoms under the law. These observations apply both domestically - in the context of each nation State - and globally, viewing the global judiciary as one great bastion of the rule of law throughout the world. Ensuring the integrity of the global judiciary is thus a task to which much energy, skill and experience must be devoted.

3 This is precisely what the judicial Group on Strengthening judicial Integrity (The judicial Integrity Group) has sought to do since 2000. It commenced as an informal group of Chief Justices and Superior Court Judges from around the world who combined their experience and skill with a sense of dedication to this noble task. Since then, the Group s work and achievements have grown to a point where they have made a significant impact on the global judicial scene. The BANGALORE PRINCIPLES of judicial conduct have increasingly been accepted by the different sectors of the global judiciary and by international agencies interested in the integrity of the judicial process. In the result, the BANGALORE PRINCIPLES are seen more and more as a document which all judiciaries and legal systems can accept unreservedly.

4 In short, these PRINCIPLES give expression to the highest traditions relating to the judicial function as visualised in all cultures and legal systems. Reaching agreement on these core PRINCIPLES has been difficult, but the judicial Integrity Group s unwavering commitment to achieving a result which would command universal acceptance has allowed it to surmount the barriers that appeared in its path. Not only have some States adopted the BANGALORE PRINCIPLES , but others have modelled their own PRINCIPLES of judicial conduct on them. International organisations have also looked on them with favour and given them their endorsement. The united nations Social and Economic Council, in its resolution 2006/23 of 27 July 2006, invited Member States, consistent with their domestic legal systems, to encourage their judiciaries to take into consideration the BANGALORE PRINCIPLES when reviewing or developing rules with respect to the professional and ethical conduct of the members of the judiciary.

5 The united nations office on Drugs and crime has actively supported the BANGALORE PRINCIPLES , which have also been recognized by bodies such as the American Bar Association and the International Commission of Jurists. The judges of the member States of the Council of Europe have also given the BANGALORE PRINCIPLES their favourable consideration. A detailed draft COMMENTARY was prepared on each of the BANGALORE PRINCIPLES and discussed in depth, together with the PRINCIPLES , at the Open-Ended 6 Intergovernmental Expert Group Meeting on Strengthening Basic PRINCIPLES of judicial conduct held in Vienna on 1-2 March 2007. That meeting was attended by participants from over 35 countries.

6 The draft COMMENTARY and proposed amendments were also considered in detail at the fifth meeting of the judicial Integrity Group. The BANGALORE PRINCIPLES and the amended COMMENTARY were adopted at those meetings, thereby giving them increased weight and authority. The COMMENTARY gives depth and strength to the PRINCIPLES , and contributes significantly to furthering the global adoption of the PRINCIPLES as a universal declaration of judicial ethics. It should be noted that just as all traditional systems of law are unanimous in their insistence on the highest standards of judicial rectitude, so do all the great religious systems of the world. In recognition of this, the COMMENTARY contains, in an annex, a brief outline of religious teachings on the subject of judicial integrity.

7 We have in the BANGALORE PRINCIPLES of judicial conduct an instrument that is of great potential value not only for the judiciaries of all nations , but also for the general public and for all those concerned with laying down a firm foundation for a global judiciary of unimpeachable integrity. C G WEERAMANTRY Chairperson judicial Integrity Group 7 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The united nations office on Drugs and crime gratefully acknowledges the work of the judicial Integrity Group in preparing the draft COMMENTARY on the BANGALORE PRINCIPLES of judicial conduct , and the work of those who participated in the Open-Ended Intergovernmental Expert Group Meeting on Strengthening Basic PRINCIPLES of judicial conduct , held on 1 and 2 March 2007 at the united nations office at Vienna.

8 Special thanks also go to the German Agency for Technical Cooperation (Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Technische Zusammenarbeit), which funded both the research and the drafting of this COMMENTARY , and to the Governments of Norway and Sweden for their support at the aforementioned expert group meeting. 8 9 DRAFTING HISTORY I. Background In April 2000, on the invitation of the united nations Centre for International crime Prevention, and within the framework of the Global Programme Against Corruption, a preparatory meeting of a group of Chief Justices and senior justices was convened in Vienna, in conjunction with the Tenth united nations Congress on the Prevention of crime and the Treatment of Offenders.

9 The objective of the meeting was to address the problem that was created by evidence that, in many countries, across all the continents, many people were losing confidence in their judicial systems because they were perceived to be corrupt or otherwise partial. This evidence had emerged through service delivery and public perception surveys, as well as through commissions of inquiry established by governments. Many solutions had been offered, and some reform measures had been tried, but the problem persisted. This was intended to be a new approach. It was the first occasion under the auspices of the united nations when judges were invited to put their own house in order; to develop a concept of judicial accountability that would complement the principle of judicial independence, and thereby raise the level of public confidence in the Rule of Law.

10 At the initial stage, recognizing the existence of different legal traditions in the world, it was decided to limit the exercise to the common law legal system. Accordingly, the initial participants were from nine countries in Asia, Africa and the Pacific, which applied a multitude of different laws but shared a common judicial tradition. II. The judicial Integrity Group The first meeting of the judicial Group on Strengthening judicial Integrity (or the judicial Integrity Group, as this body has come to be known) was held at the united nations office in Vienna on 15 and 16 April 2000. It was attended by Chief Justice Latifur Rahman of Bangladesh, Chief Justice Y. Bhaskar Rao of Karnataka State in India, Justice Govind Bahadur Shrestha of Nepal representing his country s Chief Justice, Chief Justice Uwais of Nigeria, Deputy President Pius Langa of the Constitutional Court of South Africa, recently retired Chief Justice Nyalali of the united Republic of Tanzania, and Justice Odoki, Chairman of the judicial Service Commission of Uganda.