LW478 w: should be judicial education organized? Who should decide on what judges study, how often, etc: Courts and Judges Research Paper, UCD, Ireland

Broad topics for ‘Courts and Judges’ policy papers
Tip: see Hurley: Systems of Judicial Appointment across Europe (it shows Irish practice on many of the
issues offered as topics in international comparison. This may direct you towards some particular
problems, which might be interesting for you to elaborate on more.)
Remember please that the policy paper has to apply to Ireland.
Broad topics are emphasized, the text below provides you with some ideas where your research can go.

Separation of powers:

Courts in IRL should be stronger / weaker (which powers should be granted/taken away)
Who should decide how the judiciary is financed?

Judicial Independence

How to strengthen (level of individual judges / courts / judiciary)
Freezing salaries (example from Czechia – is it ok during an economic crisis to freeze judicial
salaries?)

Judicial Education

How should be judicial education organized? Who should decide on what judges study, how often,
etc?

Transparency

• Should court trials be aired live on TV?
• Should all judgments be published online?
• Should courts be active on social media?

Digital justice
Should courts make more use of e-tools when judging (e.g., hold hearings in online environment)?

Gender and judging

Are there enough female judges? Are they also in higher parts of the judicial system? See e.g.
Havelková, et al. “The Family Friendliness That Wasn’t: Access, but Not Progress, for Women in the
Czech Judiciary.” Law & Social Inquiry (2021) for an inspiration.
Similarly, you can look not only at gender but also at universities where judges from the top
echelons of judicial hierarchy graduated. If a clear majority of top judges comes from one law school,
should we try to change it? How? Why?

Judicial careers:

• How should a profile of an excellent judge look like?
• Who should decide on career progress of judges (going to a higher court, becoming a court
  president)?

Judicial self-governance

How much power should judges have in deciding issues of organisation of the judiciary? Should they
have more / less power?

Judicial ethics:

Can judges play a role of ‘celebrity judges’? (e.g., appearing on TV and commenting on issues not
related to judging)
Can judges be active on social networks?

Judicial accountability:

• Who should decide on disciplinary measures against judges?
• Which tools should be used to hold judges accountable for their performance?
• How to balance judicial independence and accountability (e.g., you may argue that one of those is
  too strong at the expense of the other)

Public opinion and judiciary

Should there be any limits to public criticism of the judiciary / courts / individual judges?
How to increase public confidence in courts?
Other topics:
E.g. case management – should cases be distributed among judges randomly or according to their
wishes / specialisation?