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Judicial Cultures and Judicial Independence

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 October 2017

John Bell
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In this article, I argue that apparently common values, such as ‘judicial independence’ have significantly different meanings in different judicial cultures. As an illustration, I take Sweden and Spain, countries with very different histories and institutional arrangements. It is my contention that basic values are understood and implemented in the light of historical and institutional settings. These have given rise to issues which a nation’s judiciary feel it has to address and set the context in which the contemporary judiciary has to operate. The purpose is to examine how far national histories and traditions colour the understanding of common values, such as judicial independence and democracy in the judicial process.

Type
Research Article
Information
Cambridge Yearbook of European Legal Studies , Volume 4 , 2001 , pp. 47 - 60
Copyright
Copyright © Centre for European Legal Studies, Faculty of Law, University of Cambridge 2001

References

1 Legrand, P. ‘European Legal Systems are not Converging’ (1996) 45 ICLQ 52 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

2 http://www.richtervereinigung.at/international/charta.htm

3 See statistics from http://www.mec.es/consejou/estadis (Ministry of Education).

4 For the most part, the preparation for this entrance examination is privately funded. The 2–3 year preparation period carries few bursaries and the tutoring also has to be arranged and paid for privately. For a general account, see de Otto, I. Estudios sobre el Poder Judicial (Madrid, Ministry of Justice, 1989)Google Scholar, ch 6.

5 Arnaldo Alcubilla, E. ‘Le fonctionnement du pouvoir judiciaire’ in Renoux, T. Les Conseils supérieurs de la magistrature en Europe (hereafter ‘Les Conseils supérieurs’) (Paris, La Documentation Française, 1999) 191 Google Scholar, 199.

6 See the website of the Swedish university administration, Högskoleverket (http://nu.hsv.se)

7 See DV website information: http://www.dom.se.

8 See generally, Vägen till domaryrket (Stockholm Domstolsverket, 1999), and Det svenska domstolsväsendet—En kort introduktion (Stockholm Domstolsverket, 1999), 8. Baas, N. J. Onderzoeksnotities 2000/8: Rekrutering en (permanente) educatie van de rechtsprekende macht in vijf landen (The Hague Ministry of Justice, Netherlands 2000)Google Scholar (hereafter ‘Rechtsprekende macht’), 102. In 1999, 1041 students passed the Juris kandidatsexamen: see the statistics from the Högskoleverket (http://nu.hsv.se) on ‘avlagda yrkesexamina’.

9 In 1999 there were 742 notarier, 769 icke ordinarie domare and 1002 ordinarie domare.

10 For example, see studies of East Germany: Baer, A. Die Unabhängigkeit der Richter in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland (Berlin, Arno Spitz, 1999), 56–83 Google Scholar.

11 In managing the administration of the court service, other models are operated.

12 See Lopez Guerra, L. ‘Genèse et rôle du pouvoir judiciaire’ in Renoux, Les Conseils supérieurs at 184.

13 Ley orgánica 2/2001 of 28 June, Bollletin Oficial del Estado n° 155, 12535.

14 See the instruction of the President of the Consejo del Poder Judicial, 29 June 2001, giving the Asociación Profesional de la Magistratura the right to nominate 10 candidates, the Asociación Jueces para la Democracíia 4, the Asociación Fracisco de Vitoria 4, and the Unión Judicial Independiente none.

15 See Casqueiro, J. and Díez, A. El País, 2 July 2001.

16 See, for instance, Eriksson, P. ‘Domstolsverket (S) och Domstolsstyrelsen (DK)—Olika sätt att reglera domstolsadministration’ (2000) 1 Tidskrift för Sveriges Domareförbund 23 Google Scholar.

17 Årsredovisning 1999, sections 6.2 (distribution or resources) and 6.4 (locally generated projects).

18 Ibid, ch. 2.

19 See for example, the article by Judge Gregow, T. ‘Domstolsverket lägger sig i vårt arbete’, “Brännpunkt”, Svenska Dagbladet, 4 September 2000.

20 See the debate between the Minister of Justice and representatives of judges in ‘Domstolen i framtiden’ (1999) 4 Tidskrift för Sveriges Domareförbund 13.

21 This respects the need for some expertise in local law.

22 See Modulos 2000, approved 31 May 2000, 2.

23 The modulos can be found on the website of the Consejo del Poder Judicial: http://www.cgpj.es.

24 See Modéer, K. Å., Lemän och Lagerlöfar (Lund, Lund University, 1999), p 84 Google Scholar on Gunnar Bomgren, appointed in 1955, 119–120 on Marianne Lundius, appointed in 1998.

25 SOU 2000:99 (chair Johan Hirschfeldt)

26 This restriction is supported by the judiciary: 59.6% in the Elites survey of 1987: see Vera Padial, MM. ‘Fiscales, letrados del Estado, notarios. una aportacion al estudio de la élite juridica española’ in (1987) 53 Documentación Juridica 81 Google Scholar.

27 See, for example, Holmberg, E. ‘Om domarkarriären’ (1999) 3 Tidskrift för Sveriges Domareförbund 15 Google Scholar.

28 See Lewin, L. Ideology and Strategy: A Century of Swedish Politics (Cambridge, CUP, 1988), p 94–95 Google Scholar. Holmström, B. ‘The Judicialization of Politics in Sweden’, 154, suggests that about a third of the upper chamber and 10–15% of the lower chamber of the Riksdag had legal qualifications, and about 10% and 6–8% respectively were judges.

29 Ibid., 417–418.

30 Newton, M. T. with Donaghy, P.J. Institutions of Modern Spain (Cambridge, CUP, 1997), 303 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

30 Ibid.

31 Consejo del Poder Judicial, Libro Blanco (Madrid, 1997). 3 Google Scholar.