Global Judicial Integrity Network Updates Special Edition 'Views' Review | Page 18

VIEWS
Judicial Integrity: A Fundamental Commitment
José Igreja Matos is the President of the European Association of Judges and Vice President of the
International Association of Judges.
Adela Cortina, a well-
known
philosopher,
emphasizes that corruption,
etymologically related with
the idea of ‘destruction’,
is encouraged by the
weakening of the so-called
‘internal good’, described
as the reason that justifies
the existence of any given profession. Since
judges exist to accomplish the essential goal
of delivering justice to their fellow citizens, a
vigorous ethical commitment should constitute
a genetic trace of its professional code.
is the most representative organization of
judges in the world, comprising 85 national
associations of magistrates from all continents.
In 2014, at its 57th annual meeting held in Foz
de Iguaçu, Brazil, the General Assembly of the
IAJ approved a Strategic Plan for the following
years. One of the main points of the plan was the
project ‘Judges against Corruption’, a concrete
commitment to enhance judicial integrity and
to fight corruption, one of the worst scourges of
our societies.
The International Association of
Judges considers the Network an
encouraging instrument. Since then the IAJ has been involved in several
activities, especially in Latin America, devoted
to this essential purpose. The fight against
corruption within the judiciary is an essential
prerequisite to demand for integrity and
transparency in all other state powers given
that the only consistent demands are those
legitimated by concrete examples and positive
leadership.
On the other hand, irreprehensible ethical
behaviour by the legal professionals,
particularly judges, has an essential role
in the legitimacy of the judicial system, as
necessarily based on a bond of trust with the
involved community. Ethics, as Rodolfo Vigo
explains, endorses democracy, since it implies
an open debate about professional conduct,
besides inspiring magistrates to go far beyond
the mere obedience to their functional duties
as prescribed by law. Ethics strengthens and
reinforces judicial independence by promoting
the implementation of a culture of excellence,
the ultimate ambition of any judiciary. Therefore, it is now unquestionable that
judges are not shying away from this relevant
subject. In 2016, the first study commission
of the International Association of Judges on
Measures to Promote Integrity and Combat
Corruption within the Judiciary supported
“an emphasis on the importance of fostering
a culture of integrity within the judiciary and
the courts more generally”. It is the right time
to guarantee further steps to improve the
transparency of the court systems along with
the implementation of measures to support
and enhance the integrity of judges in order to
reduce the risk of corrupt behaviour by judicial
officers in the future.
The International Association of Judges (IAJ) In this perspective, IAJ as a whole, but also
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