Colloquium (Paris, 26 October 2012)

Questionnaire on the appointement of judges

I. - Appointment of judges to the Supreme Court

1. Are open positions to judgeships at the Supreme Court publicized?

2. Who can apply to judgeships at the Supreme Court (is there a ratio for candidates not already members of the judiciary)?

3. How is conducted the selection of the Applicants to Supreme Court positions: which body is practically in charge of drawing up the list of candidates? What are the criteria for nomination on the list of candidates (age, seniority, qualifications, etc.)? Are those criteria publicized? Is there a hearing of the selected candidates? By whom? 

4. Is the Supreme Court (through a specific body of the Supreme Court or in conjunction with other bodies?), and especially its President, involved in the selection process of Applicants? And in the appointment process of those who are selected (proposal, recommendation, requirement of approval, etc.)?

5. Which State bodies (other than Councils for the Judiciary and Supreme Courts) are involved in the selection and appointment process of Supreme Court judges?

6. Is there transparency of the selection process (number of applicants, selection criteria…)? And of the appointment process (publicity of the list candidates, public hearing, etc.)?

7. Who reaches the decision to appoint among the selected candidates? On which criteria (merit, representativeness of the society, professional experience, etc.)

8. Can the selection of an Applicant at the Supreme Court be appealed? By whom? To whom? And regarding the decision to appoint the selected candidate?

9. Who carries out the appointment (Head of State…)? May the appointing authority refuse to appoint?

10. Are you satisfied of the prevailing conditions in your country? Which modifications would you suggest?

II. - Appointment of judges to the Court of Justice of the European Union and to the European Court of Human Rights

1. Given the requirements of the Conventions (Article 19 of the Treaty on European Union – Article 21 of the European Convention on Human Rights and paragraph 4 of Resolution 1646 (2009)), what are the other qualifications for the candidates (independence and impartiality, professional experience, legal training, linguistic abilities, ability to work in an international environment, etc.)?

2. How is selection of the candidates conducted on national level?

3. What is the transparency of the selection / appointment process?

4. What is and should be the role of the Governments? Should a non-Government supported application be taken into consideration?

5. Are the Presidents of the Supreme Courts consulted or otherwise involved?

6. Is the European Courts or their Members involved in the process (officially / unofficially)?

7. How could the Network be of help to the Committee set up under Article 255 of the Lisbon Treaty for nominations at the Court of Justice of the European Union and to the Sub-committee set-up by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe for nominations to the European Court of Human Rights (approval of the proposals, etc.)?