2. Appointment Examination Election
Appointment is the most common method
of selecting lower- and higher-court judges
in common-law countries, and for supreme
and constitutional courts in civil- and
mixed-system countries.
Examination-based training systems are
prevalent in civil-law countries. Judges in
many of these nations are part of the civil
service. The emphasis is on pragmatic
knowledge and noninterference in the
political process.
In a small number of countries, judges are
directly elected to their positions by the
people. Judicial elections may be limited to
certain types of judges. Alternatively,
sitting judges appointed by the executive
may be subject to a popular election when
their initial term expires.
Image Credits (Left to Right): choose by Nithinan Tatah from the Noun Project / examination by Gan Khoon Lay from the Noun Project / elections by Lakshisha from the Noun Project
4. Who Appoints?
• In most countries, this appointment is by the executive, but
there are systems that assign the minister of justice and
members of the judiciary a role in the appointment process.
• Countries that use governmental appointment to select their
judges include Argentina, Australia, Canada, the Czech
Republic, Hungary, India, Israel, Mexico, Namibia, New
Zealand, the Philippines, Russia, South Africa, the United
Kingdom, the United States, and Zimbabwe (see map on next
slide).
6. Who Appoints? (Cont’d.)
• Legislatures may need to approve the appointment.
• Judicial Councils –– including members of the judiciary ––
may provide a list of nominees from which the president must
choose.
• Judicial appointments commissions may either to work with
the executive to appoint judge or take on the responsibility itself;
these bodies are particularly popular in new democracies
because of their apparent apolitical character.
7. Appointments in
Context: Italy’s
Constitutional Court
• The appointment process for
constitutional court justices can be
quite elaborate, with an emphasis on a
diverse composition of the court in
addition to individually qualified
judges.
• Responsibility-wise, the executive,
legislative, and judicial branches may
share appointments.
• Italy’s fifteen-person constitutional
court includes five jurists appointed by
the judiciary, five by the parliament,
and five by the president.
• When the legislature is involved, there
may be certain political-party
representation requirements, where
each major party has at least one judge
on the court.
Image Credits: Italy by Linseed Studio from the Noun Project
9. Judicial Training
• Judges join the bench after completing a training program
and successfully passing an examination or are recruited
into such programs after scoring competitively on an
entrance examination.
• Judicial training is often commenced just after university or
law school education is completed, meaning that new judges
are frequently in their mid-twenties.
• These programs usually last between six months and three
years and can include a lengthy internship component in
judicial or government offices.
10. Judicial Training (Cont’d.)
• Countries that use some form of examination and training
program to select their judges include Austria, Bangladesh,
Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Indonesia, Italy,
Japan, Nepal, Netherlands, Singapore, Spain, Portugal, and
Sweden (see map on next slide).
11.
12. Examination in Context:
Japan’s Supreme Court
• Countries that employ entrance exams to identify
qualified candidates often also involve their supreme
courts in the process.
• The Supreme Court of Japan controls the initial
selection of assistant judges and is involved with
reappointment and promotion.
Image Credits: Japan by Linseed Studio from the Noun Project
15. Elections in Context: Bolivia and Switzerland
Currently, Bolivia is the only country that elects most of its
judges through popular vote, and the practice only
commenced after ratification of the new constitution in 2009.
In Switzerland, federal judges are elected by parliament,
and judges in the cantons are elected by citizens (through
local political parties).
Image Credits (Top to Bottom): Bolivia by Linseed Studio from the Noun Project / switzerland by clckw from the Noun Project
16. Elections in Context: Japan and the NMI
In Japan, supreme court justices are appointed by the
government, but are reviewed in a popular referendum
every ten years.
Judges of the supreme court of the Northern Mariana
Islands can have their eight-year terms renewed if
approved through voter election.
Image Credits: northern mariana islands by clckw from the Noun Project
17. Elections in Context: The United States
In the United States, many states elect some of their
judges or subject judges appointed by the executive to
retention election. However, federal judges are appointed
by the president.
In the state of Alabama,
judges are elected in partisan
elections.
In the state of Illinois, judges are
initially elected in partisan
elections, but may submit
themselves to a retention
election.
Image Credits (Top to Bottom): United States by Linseed Studio from the Noun Project / Alabama by Linseed Studio from the Noun Project / Illinois by Linseed Studio from the Noun Project
18. Sources:
• Mary L. Volcansek, Judicial Selection: Looking at How Other Nations Name Their Judges, 53 The Advocate 95 (2010).
• Brian Opeskin, Models of Judicial Tenure: Reconsidering Life Limits, Age Limits and Term Limits for Judges, 35 OXFORD J. LEGAL STUD. 627 (2015)
• Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook, https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/.
• https://blogs.loc.gov/law/2019/03/the-appointment-of-the-new-chief-justice-of-new-
zealand/#:~:text=Under%20section%20133%20of%20the,be%20appointed%20as%20acting%20judges.
• https://www.const-court.be/
• https://www.dekamer.be/kvvcr/pdf_sections/jurid/constitutional_court_07.pdf
• http://www.dplf.org/sites/default/files/executive_summary_rev_web.pdf
• https://www.refworld.org/docid/5b7bcc9d4.html
• https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Bolivia_2009.pdf
• https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1064&context=law_lawreview
• https://web.archive.org/web/20091001132427/http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200908270050.html
• https://www.courtsofnz.govt.nz/the-courts/supreme-court/acting-
judges/#:~:text=1%20The%20practice%20in%20relation,been%20appointed%20as%20acting%20judges.
• https://web.archive.org/web/20091001132427/http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200908270050.html
• https://judicial.alabama.gov/Appellate/JudgeQualification#:~:text=All%20justices%20and%20judges%2C%20with,in%20the%20state%20of%20Alabama.&text=Just
ices%20and%20judges%20are%20elected%20in%20partisan%20elections.
• https://fourthcircuitil.com/the-court-system/structure-of-the-illinois-courts/
