The Appointment, Tenure and Removal of Judges under Commonwealth Principles - Compendium and Analysis of Best Practice

252 Pages·2015·1.32 MB·English

by  Dr Jan van Zyl Smit

TheAppointment,TenureandRemovalofJudgesunderCommonwealth Th
e
Principles
A
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Anindependent,impartialandcompetentjudiciaryisessentialtotherule o
i
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oflaw.Thisstudyconsidersthelegalframeworksusedtoachievethisand t
m
examinestrendsinthe53memberstatesoftheCommonwealth.Itasks: e
n
The Appointment, Tenure
t
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! whoshouldappointjudgesandbywhatprocess? T
e
! whatshouldbethedurationofjudicialtenureandhowshouldjudges’ n
u and Removal of Judges
remuneration bedetermined? r
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! whatgroundsjustifytheremovalofajudgeandwhoshouldcarryoutthe a
n
necessaryinvestigationandinquiries? d under Commonwealth
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e
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Thestudynotestheincreasinguseofindependentjudicialappointment o Principles
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commissions;thepreferenceforpermanentratherthanfixed-termjudicial a
l
appointments;thefullerarticulationofproceduralsafeguardsnecessary o
f
toinquiriesintojudicialmisconduct;andmanyotherdevelopmentswith Ju
implicationsforstrengtheningtheruleoflaw. dg A Compendium and Analysis
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s
u
Thesefindingsformthebasisforrecommendationsonbestpracticeingiving n of Best Practice
d
effecttotheCommonwealthLatimerHousePrinciples(2003),theleading e
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Commonwealthstatementontheresponsibilitiesandinteractionsofthethree C
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mainbranchesofgovernment. m
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ThisresearchwascommissionedbytheCommonwealthSecretariat,andundertakenand e
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producedindependentlybytheBinghamCentrefortheRuleofLaw.TheCentreispartof t
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theBritishInstituteofInternationalandComparativeLaw. P
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ISBN 978-1-90522-155-4
BinghamCentrefortheRuleofLaw
BritishInstituteofInternationalandComparativeLaw
9 781905 221554 >
CharlesCloreHouse,17RussellSquare,LondonWC1B5JP

Comp of Judicial Proj_Prelims (new) 26/6/15 09:33 Page i
The Appointment, Tenure and Removal of Judges under
Commonwealth Principles
A Compendium and Analysis of Best Practice
Comp of Judicial Proj_Prelims (new) 26/6/15 09:33 Page ii
Comp of Judicial Proj_Prelims (new) 26/6/15 09:33 Page iii
The Appointment, Tenure and
Removal of Judges under
Commonwealth Principles
A Compendium and Analysis of
Best Practice
Comp of Judicial Proj_Prelims (new) 26/6/15 09:33 Page iv
Published and Distributed by
The British Institute of International and Comparative Law
Charles Clore House, 17 Russell Square, London WC1B 5JP
© Commonwealth Secretariat 2015
This work is to be cited as J. van Zyl Smit, The Appointment, Tenure and Removal of
Judges under Commonwealth Principles: A Compendium and Analysis of Best Practice
(Report of Research Undertaken by Bingham Centre for the Rule of Law)
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A Catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 978–1–905221–57–8
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in
any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or
otherwise, or stored in any restricted system of any nature without the written
permission of the copyright holder, application for which should be addressed to the
distributor. Such written permission must also be obtained before any part of this
publication is stored in a retrieval system of any nature.
Typeset by Cambrian Typesetters
Camberley, Surrey
Printed in Great Britain by Polestar Wheatons Ltd
Cover design by Nick Clarke
Comp of Judicial Proj_Prelims (new) 26/6/15 09:33 Page v
CONTENTS
FFOORREEWWOORRDD BBYY CCOOMMMMOONNWWEEAALLTTHH SSEECCRREETTAARRYY--GGEENNEERRAALL iixx
AACCKKNNOOWWLLEEDDGGEEMMEENNTTSS xxii
AABBOOUUTT TTHHEE BBIINNGGHHAAMM CCEENNTTRREE xxiiiiii
SSUUMMMMAARRYY OOFF FFIINNDDIINNGGSS AANNDD BBEESSTT PPRRAACCTTIICCEE xxvv
1 Appointments xv
2 Tenure xviii
3 Removal from office xx
IINNTTRROODDUUCCTTIIOONN xxxxvv
0.1 Overview and scope of study xxv
0.2 Commonwealth principles, their development and
international context xxix
11 AAPPPPOOIINNTTMMEENNTTSS 11
1.1 The appointment of judges and the rule of law 1
1.2 Criteria for judicial office 2
1.3 Appointment mechanisms 10
1.4 The role of the executive 12
1.5 The role of the legislature 25
1.6 Composition and structure of judicial appointments
commissions 30
1.7 The role of judicial appointments commissions 44
22 TTEENNUURREE 5577
2.1 Judicial tenure and the rule of law 57
2.2 Duration of judicial appointments 58
2.3 Protection of judicial remuneration 73
33 RREEMMOOVVAALL FFRROOMM OOFFFFIICCEE 7799
3.1 The removal of judges and the rule of law 79
3.2 Substantive grounds of removal 81
3.3 Removal mechanisms 88
v
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CONTENTS
3.4 Removal via an ad hoctribunal 92
3.5 Removal by disciplinary councils 102
3.6 Parliamentary removal 105
AAPPPPEENNDDIIXX 11 111133
Commonwealth Latimer House Principles (2003) On the
Accountability of and the Relationship between the Three
Branches of Government 113
Annex – Latimer House Guidelines for the Commonwealth
(1998) 117
AAPPPPEENNDDIIXX 22 112299
Note about terminology 129
Australia 130
Bahamas 132
Bangladesh 134
Barbados 135
Belize 136
Botswana 138
Brunei Darussalam 140
Cameroon 140
Canada 142
Cyprus 144
Fiji 145
Ghana 147
Guyana 149
India 151
Jamaica 154
Kenya 155
Kiribati 158
Lesotho 159
Malawi 161
Malaysia 163
Maldives 165
Malta 167
Mauritius 168
Mozambique 170
Namibia 171
Nauru 172
New Zealand 173
Nigeria 175
Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States 177
vi
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CONTENTS
Pakistan 179
Papua New Guinea 181
Rwanda 183
Samoa 185
Seychelles 186
Sierra Leone 188
Singapore 189
Solomon Islands 191
South Africa 192
Sri Lanka 194
Swaziland 196
Tanzania 197
Tonga 199
Trinidad and Tobago 200
Tuvalu 201
Uganda 203
United Kingdom 205
Vanuatu 209
Zambia 210
vii
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