Global Judicial Integrity Network Updates Special Edition 'Views' Review | Page 39

VIEWS
Reaching Out To The General Public
Kees Sterk is the President of the European Network of Councils for the Judiciary (ENCJ), and Judge
Andrea Chis, is a member of the Romanian Superior Council of Magistrates and coordinator of the project
on Public Confidence and the Image of Justice at the ENCJ.
The European Network of
Councils for the Judiciary
(ENCJ)
believes
that
councils and judiciaries
should assume a new role
to achieve a better balance
of power and to strengthen
the position of the judiciary,
which
necessitates
expressing and explaining
the role of an independent
and accountable judiciary,
within a state governed by
the rule of law. In addition,
councils for the judiciary
should be instrumental
in helping educate society
about what judges do, and
it is therefore essential for
the councils and the judiciaries to develop their
communication with the general public.
The ENCJ was able to gather valuable
information about the great diversity of practices
which its members (councils for the judiciary
from the European Union) and observers had
established to reach out to the general public.
However, given the difficulty of ranking the
various best practices identified, the chapter
on Reaching out to the General Public in the
ENCJ report Public Confidence and the Image
of Justice provides a list of examples of judicial
outreach activities which judiciaries could set
up in order to strengthen public trust.
One-time events are highly valuable, such as
annual open court days during which the general
public can access in-depth information about the
functioning of the judiciary; activities like these
allow for direct communication with citizens,
and contribute to a better understanding of
the functioning of the judiciary and of the
challenges the system may face. Judiciaries
should certainly provide citizens with easily
accessible information about the functioning of
the judicial system, for example via websites or
leaflets.
When public trust in the judiciary
is fragile, a public outreach
programme should be a part of
continuous efforts to rebuild this
trust.
Today, the availability of a vast number of
communication platforms makes it easier to
reach a higher number of people, and the ENCJ
therefore recommends that judiciaries make use
of this diversity of platforms when developing
public outreach activities. The judiciaries can
also lead public outreach activities through
developing television programme formats
with relevant broadcast companies, to
provide citizens insight into judges’ everyday
work. Judiciaries would also benefit from
communicating via social media, which is one
of the most widely available and used media
today, thus meeting the public’s expectations
and preferences. Social networking could be
used by the judiciaries as a platform to inform
citizens about their rights, about the role judges
have in protecting them and to readily provide
facts to counter widespread disinformation.
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