publications_unodc_commentary-e

WHEREAS it is essential that judges, individually andcollectively, respect and honour judicial office as a public trustand strive to enhance and maintain confidence in the judicialsystem.CommentaryCollective responsibility14. A judge must consider it his or her duty not only to observe high standardsof conduct, but also to participate in collectively establishing, maintaining andupholding those standards. Even one instance of judicial misconduct mayirreparably damage the moral authority of the court.The judicial office15. The following remarks were once addressed by a Chief Justice to newlyappointedjudges in his jurisdiction:A judge’s role is to serve the community in the pivotal role ofadministering justice according to law. Your office gives you thatopportunity and that is a privilege. Your office requires you to serve, andthat is a duty. No doubt there were a number of other reasons, personaland professional, for accepting appointment, but the judge will notsucceed and will not find satisfaction in his or her duties unless there iscontinual realization of the importance of the community service that isrendered. Freedom, peace, order and good government – the essentialsof the society we treasure – depend in the ultimate analysis on thefaithful performance of judicial duty. It is only when the community hasconfidence in the integrity and capacity of the judiciary that thecommunity is governed by the rule of law. Knowing this, you must have ahigh conceit of the importance of your office. When the work loses itsnovelty, when the case load resembles the burdens of Sisyphus, when thetyranny of reserved judgments palls, the only permanently sustainingmotivation to strive onwards is in the realization that what you are calledon to do is essential to the society in which you live.You are privileged to discharge the responsibilities of office and you areobliged to leave it unsullied when the time comes to lay it down. Whatyou say and what you do, in public and to some extent, in private, willaffect the public appreciation of your office and the respect which itought to command. The running of the risk of being arrested whiledriving home from a dinner party or a minor understatement of income30