Expert cautions against popular election of judges

The very status of a professional judge runs contrary to his appointment based on public sympathies, expert says

Professional judges should not be elected through a popular vote, Roman Romanov, Director of the International Renaissance Foundation’s Human Rights and Justice Program Initiative, said at a press conference in Kyiv on April 16.

“This popular topic looks appealing, but I am categorically against electing professional judges,” Roman Romanov was quoted as saying by Ukrinform. He said the very status of a professional judge runs contrary to his appointment based on public sympathies. “There are no criteria by which the public could assess professionalism,” he said.

According to the expert, judicial candidates would have to raise funds for their campaigns and enter into relationships that could affect their decisions in the future.

However, the expert is in favor of establishing magistrate courts, whose members would have ties to the local community that elects them. “They would consider a small number of disputes, mostly land disputes, because people very often take their land boundary disputes to general courts where the cases drag on for years – this makes no sense,” Roman Romanov said. “I think the right to elect judges can be given at the territorial community level, as this will strengthen sentiment that justice is becoming more accessible.”

Contacts:
Human Rights and Justice
Roman Romanov
(+380 44) 482 03 63
romanov@irf.ua

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