June 13, 2022
Building a comprehensive risk management in the judiciary
In the last decade, the associations of judges and the creators of the judicial policies have been focusing on the questions of promoting independence or ethical issues, but generally little attention has been paid to the issues of corruption in the judiciary. As a result, there is often an absence of streamlined sectoral anti-corruption and risk management policies in the judiciary, a lack of integrity and corruption measurement practices, and insufficient communication with relevant stakeholders, media and the public.
Corruption risks in the judiciary should be identified in areas in which judges exercise discretion. Judges should have unfettered freedom to decide cases impartially, without pressure and in accordance with the law and the facts. Most frequently, external pressure is canalized through internal judicial channels, such as judicial councils, superior courts, presidents or the judges themselves. External pressure can also take a form of a social pressure by peers or friendly relations among judges, with judges giving and receiving favours due to belonging to the same social group - judicial community. External pressure can also come through negative comments from the executive branch proposing measures such as general re-election and vetting of all judges, which represents a direct pressure on judges.
