Constitutional Status of Judges: Main Elements and their Characteristics

Abstract

The article analyzes the scholars’ research on determining the elements of the constitutional status of judges. The article presents the author’s view on some definitions of the constitutional status of judges. The article proposes to determine four basic guarantees of the status of judges, which are necessary for the proper functioning of the judicial branch of power: the principle of appointment of judges, the principle of irremovability of judges, the principle of independence of judges, and the principle of incompatibility. The principle of appointment of judges means the procedure of formation of a judiciary; the principle involves an independent competitive selection which is divided into two stages: the assessment of legal professional skills and competences (“exam”) and the assessment of social and psychological skills and competences with an additional assessment of legal professional skills and competences (“interview”). The author gives some examples that prove the fact that there are still some problems connected with the principle of appointment of judges in Ukraine. The principle of irremovability restricts the sphere of influence on judges and provides judges with the assurance that they can be removed only because of their own incompetence. A special attention is paid to the importance and necessity of the principle of independence of judges. The article also provides some examples of nihilism of the principle of independence of judges. The principle of incompatibility means that judges cannot be guided by their own interests. The author notes that guarantees of the constitutional status of judges are really effective only if all four principles are available and followed. The author pays attention to the fact that most of the guarantees of the judges’ status are common in the constitutions of many foreign countries, in spite of many differences in their cultural, political, social development and legal consciousness.

Keywords

• constitutional status of judges; appointment of judges; irremovability; incompatibility; independence of judges