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Reform Support
P049982-958677
© EU

Supporting reforms to reinforce efficient and high quality public administrations

Funding Programme
Structural Reform Support Programme (SRSP)
Year
2018

Creation of objective criteria for the recruitment and promotion of judges

The European Commission supported Cyprus in creating objective criteria for the recruitment, evaluation and promotion of judges, in collaboration with the Austrian Federal Ministry of Constitutional Affairs, Reforms, Deregulation and Justice and the Center of Legal Competence (CLC) – Forschung & Consulting GmbH.

Context

The judiciary can only achieve its objectives if the selection and evaluation process of judges is based on proven competence, integrity and independence. For the appointment and career development of judges there must be clearly defined criteria which are known in advance not only to prospective candidates, but also to the public at large, for transparency reasons. Merit is central in the selection process, but needs to be defined by the establishment of objective criteria.

Support delivered

The Commission provided support over a nine-month period in the form of technical advisory services mobilizing expertise from Germany, the Netherlands and Austria and delivering concrete recommendations on how to put objective criteria for the recruitment, evaluation and promotion of judges in place.

The support measures consisted of:

  • a comparative analysis of best practices from selected jurisdictions for the recruitment and promotion of judges; and
  • a report with specific recommendations on how to put in place objective criteria to recruit and promote judges. In particular:
    • for the recruitment of new judges the recommendations focus on:
      • the competences judges need to have;
      • the composition of the selection and appointment council;
      • the participation of lower court judges in the selection; and
      • transparency and evaluation criteria.
    • for the promotion of existing judges the recommendations focus on:
      • the role of promotions;
      • the composition of the judicial council;
      • the promotion procedure;
      • criteria to apply;
      • weighing the different factors for the promotions and the voting system; and
      • how the criteria should be assessed when promoting District Court judges, when promoting judges to the position of Administrative President, and when promoting judges to the Court of Appeal and to the Supreme Court.

Results achieved

The Supreme Court of Cyprus introduced new procedures for the recruitment, evaluation and promotion of judges. The recruitment of new judges will follow the new procedure and selection criteria.