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"Voices" Interviews

One of the objectives of the Network, as well as a key guiding principle behind the Network's work and the development of resources, is to be a space "by judges, for judges". A space, where the participants can actively contribute, express opinions, share ideas and be involved in the Network's activities. With this in mind, the Network continuously strives to create new opportunities to give voice to its participants.

This page aims to be one of such opportunities. Here, many Network participants have agreed to voice their views on judicial integrity and their vision for the Network's endeavours. It is hoped that many more will add their voice so that this page becomes a rich mosaic of ideas and opinions and an interesting read and resource for everyone.

 

"The hope is that Network would act as a catalyst for the cross-pollination of ideas to promote judicial integrity and ultimately the rule of law, democracy, and the independence of the courts across the globe."

Chief Justice Shivute, Namibia

"I am optimistic because so much progress has already been made. The existence of the Network and its extensive reach globally is a testament of the commitment and potential to advance judicial integrity."

Mr. Edward Wageni, UN Women

"I hope that qualified women judges could get fair opportunities to join the bench and contribute to justice around the globe."

Ms. Omnia Gadalla, Egypt

"I hope that the implementation of judicial integrity will increase the effectiveness of legal systems and improve the quality of human rights protection. This will help improve the quality of people's lives, reduce humanitarian and international risks, and reduce conflicts."

Hon. Madiyar Balken, Kazakhstan

"The Network provides a platform for engaging with experienced global judicial minds."

Mr. Anurag Bana, IBA

"I would like to see a great deal of interaction in the Network, which also takes regional particularities into account."

Hon. Rudolf Mellinghoff, Germany and JIG

What are your hopes for realizing judicial integrity?

"More effective and integrated judicial leadership, greater transparency around integrity issues, better public engagement; regionally less executive interference; globally shared best practices, lessons learned, consensus on broad principles, mutual support."

Ms. Vanja Karth, University of Cape Town

"A global perspective opens a bright sight not only on the problems but also on the ways to possible solutions, which will lead to just and effective justice systems around the globe."

Hon. Gerhard Reissner, International Association of Judges

"The multimedia section provides access to a wide variety of information that is easy to understand and presented by a speaker specializing in current affairs."

Hon. Juan Carlos Sebiani, Costa Rica

"The guidelines are very real and readily useful for my work and conduct as a judicial officer."

Hon. Tsogt Tsend, Mongolia

"My main hope is to have the common understanding of the judges' role in the society (between judges and the rest of society), as well as having the effective guarantees of lack of political interference in the judicial activities."

Hon. Grzegorz Borkowski, International Legal Expert

"I want all people to view all justice systems across the globe as the one place where they know they can go to resolve their disputes in a fair and just manner. Without judicial integrity, people will ultimately resort to violence."

Mr. William Brunson, United States of America

"Justice is the keeper of peace and must remain independent, effective, unbiased and impartial."

Hon. Hassan Almohanadi, Qatar

"The Network managed to create a global 'community' of professionals committed to this issue (judicial integrity) and promote improvements in this regard."

Ms. Andrea Huber, ODIHR

"Judicial integrity is for me a condition sine qua non quality every judge must possess and aspire to."

Hon. Nina Betetto, Slovenia

"The success of the last meeting held in Doha with 700 participants from different countries around the world is a vivid example of the interest shown for achieving judicial integrity globally."

Hon. Renuka Dabee, Mauritius

"I believe that the improvement of judicial integrity is achievable by using a mixture of knowledge, skills and behavioural change education, and that the Network is ideally poised to facilitate this transformation."

Hon. Peter Jamadar, CCJ and CAJO

"The number one thing I would recommend about the Network is accessing a committed and innovative community"

Mr. Sibusiso Nkomo, Afrobarometer

"The Network is a very good platform to expand our views on the role of the judges, while comparing with the others."

Hon. Suntariya Muanpawong, Thailand

"It is important to adhere to honest practices and to practice integrity within the law in every case to ensure justice."

Hon. Fatima Al-Mal, Qatar

"The e-learning course provides an important tool to encourage the training on judicial integrity all over the world."

Hon. Walter Barone, FLAM

" Guidelines on the Use of Social Media by Judges are a very necessary tool because there are no official guidelines on this topic, and it is an increasingly pressing problem."

Mr. Leonel Gonzales, JSCA-OAS

"The best way to ensure awareness of judicial integrity is to talk about it through all forms of communication and in different networks, at both local and international levels."

Hon. Alejandro Vera, Chile

 

 

UNODC expresses its appreciation to those who contributed to this page: Hon. Fatima Al-Mal, Judge, Criminal Branch Court of First Instance, Qatar ; Hon. Madiyar Balken, Justice, Supreme Court of Kazakhstan, and Secretary, Central Council of the Union of Judges of Kazakhstan; Mr. Anurag Bana, Senior Legal Advisor, International Bar Association; Hon. Walter Barone, President of the Latin American Federation of Judges (FLAM); Hon. Nina Betetto, Justice, Supreme Court of Slovenia; Dr. Grzegorz Borkowski, Judge, Poland, currently working as an international legal expert in the Balkan Region; Mr. William Brunson, Director, Special Projects, The National Judicial College, United States of America ; Hon. Renuka Devi Dabee, Puisne Judge, Supreme Court of Mauritius; Ms. Omnia Taher Gadalla, Assistant Lecturer, Faculty of Law and Sharia - Al-Azhar University, Founder of "Her Honour Setting The Bar" Initiative to combat the banning of Egyptian women from being judges; Mr. Leonel González, Training Director, Justice Studies Center of the Americas (JSCA-OAS); Hon. D. Francis. H. Gunawardhana, Judge, Commercial High Court of Sri Lanka and cum Deputy Director, Judges' Training Institute; Ms. Andrea Huber, Deputy Chief Rule of Law at OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR); Hon. Peter Jamadar, Judge, Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), Chairperson, Caribbean Association of Judicial Officers (CAJO), and Vice President, Programming, Commonwealth Judicial Education Institute (CJEI); Ms. Vanja Karth, Director, Democratic Governance and Rights Unit, University of Cape Town; Prof. Dr. h.c. Rudolf Mellinghoff, Chief Justice, Federal Supreme Finance Court, Germany; Dr. Jur. Suntariya Muanpawong, Research Judge, Supreme Court of Thailand; Mr. Sibusiso Nkomo, Head of Communications and Partnerships, Afrobarometer; Mr. Matthew Pollard, Director of the ICJ Centre for the Independence of Judges & Lawyers, International Commission of Jurists; Hon. Gerhard Reissner, Honorary President, International Association of Judges; Hon. Juan Carlos Sebiani Serrano, Technical Secretary for Ethics and Values, the Judiciary, and President, National Ethics System of Costa Rica; Dr. Tsogt Tsend, Judge, Administrative Court of Appeals, Mongolia; Hon. Alejandro Vera Quilodrán, Judge, Court of Appeals, Chile ; Mr. Edward Wageni, Head, HeForShe Initiative, UN Women , and Mr. Andrej Wolf, Assistant to Judge, Supreme Court of the Slovak Republic.