CEELI Develops Tools for Judges

The CEELI Institute continues its work with its core working group of judges from across Central and Eastern Europe to revise, expand and edit the Institute’s Manual on Independence, Impartiality and Integrity of Justice. The Manual is a unique tool, representing a systematic survey of virtually all relevant international standards applicable to the function, performance and operation of the judiciary. It cross-references over 130 international conventions and other sources of public international law, organizing relevant sources according to thematic categories of interest and use to judges in their work. The tool is, in short, a map to the judicial profession and the international standards that underpin it. The Manual represents an extraordinary commitment of time and effort by the Working Group judges, who undertook extensive independent research and editing, and who continue to come together periodically at the Institute to coordinate and collaborate on their work. It is already being widely used and referenced in the region. It is particularly useful in societies still undergoing transitions, and where the judiciaries are still struggling to assert and establish their full independence. We are currently planning an appendix to the Manual, which will index additional relevant materials, including jurisprudence and judicial opinions from international fora such as the European Court of Human Rights.