Global Judicial Integrity Network Updates Special Edition 'Views' Review | Page 23

VIEWS
To Help Spread and Protect the Rule of Law, We Need the Global Judicial
Integrity Network
Chief Justice David Maraga is the Chief Justice and President of the Supreme Court of Kenya. Before his
appointment to the Supreme Court, he served as a Judge on the Court of Appeal and was the Chair of the
Judiciary Committee on Elections in Kenya.
Judge Milton Ray Guevara is the current President of the Constitutional Court of the Dominican Republic.
He has previously served as the Minister of Labour for the Dominican Republic, as well as a senator for the
Samaná province.
Judge Rhee Young Hwan is a Presiding Judge in the Uijeongbu District Court of the Republic of Korea.
shaken to its core.
It is a pity that judicial
integrity is discussed in
the media only when it is
perceived to be lacking, but it
is understandable; after all,
judicial integrity and ethics
should be the norm and
not the news. Throughout
the world, unnoticed and
unmentioned,
tens
of
thousands of judges, lawyers
and judicial aides dedicate
their lives to upholding
the sanctity of the rule of
law, often facing challenges
of
severe
budgetary
constraints, attacks on
their independence and the
temptations of the well-oiled
machine of corruption which
is difficult to confront alone.
When the independence,
impartiality and integrity
of judges is questionable,
let alone tainted, the entire
foundation of justice is
As members of the judicial system, it is our
collective duty to protect people’s rights and
freedoms, and to guarantee their access to
justice in its purest sense. In order to do that,
we must continuously find ways to strengthen
the independence, impartiality and integrity of
judges and judicial staff, and ensure that their
propriety, equality, competence and diligence
are beyond reproach. These are the core
values identified in the Bangalore Principles
of Judicial Conduct, and mandated by article
11 of the United Nations Convention against
Corruption, values to which we all aspire.
The drive to build strong, transparent and
accountable institutions is already one of the
objectives of our collective 2030 Agenda for
Sustainable Development, specifically Goal 16
(peace, justice and strong institutions). This is
easier said than done, of course, but one road
towards that end is creating and nurturing a
special relationship between all those whose
remit is the interpretation and the delivery of
justice — justice as it is meant to be.
This is why the Global Judicial Integrity
Network, launched by the United Nations
Office for Drugs and Crime (UNODC) this
week, is so constructive and so vital. When we
work together to address existing challenges
and bring together judges from all over the
world to share good practices, exchange
knowledge and expertise and foster cooperation
and collaboration, we know that global judicial
integrity is attainable.
This network, above all, is a platform to
provide assistance to judiciaries everywhere
as they work on the interdependent goals
of strengthening their judicial integrity and
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