Modernization of national judicial systems in the context of international legal standards

Abstract

It is indicated that the foreign experience of modernizing national judicial systems by implementing international standards into constitutional laws to implement the provisions of the European Charter on the Status of Judges of 1998 (hereinafter the European Charter) is important, where it is determined that «in every European state, the basic principles of the conduct of judges are laid down in internal regulations at the highest level, and the main provisions at least at the legislative level.» Attention is drawn to the need for the implementation of this standard confirmed in another international document, namely: in the Explanatory Note to the European Charter on the Status of Judges dated July 10, 1998, which reads: «The basic principles on which the law on the status of judges is based, which defines guarantees of competence, independence and impartiality of judges and courts should be adopted in normative acts at the highest level, that is, in the Constitution, in the case of European states, which created such a basic text full of difficulties and inaccuracies. The author comments on the above provisions. Firstly, in the European Charter and the Explanatory Note, which has the status of a Model Code, in an imperative form (such phrases as: «in every European state», «must be adopted») are used, it is determined that the international standard must be implemented in regulatory acts at the highest level, i.e. in the Constitution. Secondly, this standard must be defined «in every European state», that is, no European state can evade the implementation of the standard or ignore it. But, the question arises: are we talking about all the countries of Europe (geographical approach) or only the states of the Council of Europe or the European Union or the signatory states of the European Charter (institutional approach)? Thirdly, the Explanatory Note recognizes the fact that the main text of the European Charter is full of difficulties and inaccuracies, that is, the balance and clarity of the legal wording could be better. And where are the guarantees that the text of the Explanatory Note (Model Law) also does not contain inaccuracies or ambiguities? It is noted that, in general, the texts of each international document «suffer» from ambiguities and inaccuracies, and over time require partial additions or complete revision. In the opinion of the author, providing evaluation judgments in an international document about another document is incorrect and unnecessary. In fact, these claims should be addressed not to the document itself, but to those who drafted, accepted and signed it.