Below you’ll find the questionnaire of the First Study Commission of the IAJ on the subject which will be discussed by this Commission in San José (Costa Rica) in September 2020.
The answers to the questionnaire should arrive to the Board of the Commission and to the General Secretariat before 15 June 2020 at the following addresses: first_sc@iaj-uim.org (Board of the 1st Study Commission) and secretariat@iaj-uim.org (IAJ General Secretariat).
You are kindly requested to respect the time limit fixed for the preparation of the national reports.
Disciplinary proceedings and judicial independence
Questions:
What kind of allegation can justify disciplinary proceedings against judges in your country: an individual's behavior only in the workplace or also in his or her private life? Give some examples, please. Can the content of the decisions taken by judges also lead to disciplinary proceedings? Can judges be charged criminally for the content of their judicial decisions under any circumstances?
Which body is responsible for disciplinary proceedings against judges in your country? Is the body that carries out the disciplinary procedure the same one that imposes the penalties? What is the composition of the body responsible for disciplinary proceedings (as well as the one who must apply penalties to judges, when it is not the same)? Is it composed only by judges, does it have a mixed composition, or is it composed only by professionals outside the of the Judiciary Branch? Kindly describe the composition of that body (those bodies).
Which disciplinary penalties can be imposed on judges in your country? Is the disciplinary penalty of removal from office among them? Can a judicial conviction for a crime lead to a penalty of removal from office?
In the disciplinary proceedings against judges in your country, is a fair trial granted? Is there an appeal against the decision imposing a disciplinary penalty on judges? During the disciplinary proceedings, can the judge be suspended from office? Does the judge who is suspended during disciplinary proceedings continue to earn a salary normally or does the judge suffer any reduction in income?
Were there any recent changes regarding disciplinary proceedings that may be considered to infringe upon judicial independence in your country? If so, were those changes introduced by legislation, or were existing laws applied differently? Please specify.
Proposal for topic 2021
Please submit your proposals for possible topics to be treated in 2021 together with the answers to the questionnaire.