Global Judicial Integrity Network Updates Special Edition 'Views' Review | Page 35

VIEWS
Guaranteeing an Independent and Efficient Judiciary through Training
Judge Jorge Jiménez Martín is the current director of the Spanish Judicial School. He previously served as
a judge in the Court of First Instance in Alcalá, Spain.
Being a judge in our current
society
is
enormously
complex. We are required
not only to be good judges,
who are in continuous
training,
but
also
to
be close to the citizens
and
societal
problems.
We
must
demonstrate
impartiality, independence, courtesy, diligence,
responsibility and a constant commitment to
public exemplariness that transmits security
and confidence in the judiciary to society
as a whole. We must awaken in ourselves a
special sensitivity to many issues in our daily
lives that, in some way, could compromise our
jurisdictional function.
Training is
element to
a
transcendental
guarantee
the
independence of judges, as well
as the quality and efficiency of the
judicial system.
Only with these virtues will citizens understand
that their subjective rights are being defined in a
serene, reflective and profound manner. Judges’
conduct assures the public that the resolutions
issued are fair and rigorous and that whoever
exercises the judicial function is endowed with
the necessary courage to declare and apply
these rights when justice is concerned. In this
sense, training is a transcendental element
that guarantees the independence of judges, as
well as the quality and efficiency of the judicial
system.
Therefore, our purpose is to provide excellent
training, in the face of the new legal and
ethical challenges that digital society and
scientific
advancement
bring.
Judicial
training affords integral, specialized and high-
quality preparation before judges start their
jurisdictional functions.
It is integral because training should not be
limited to legal knowledge, but should also aim
to furnish judges with the ‘know-how’ they will
need when practising their jobs, as well as the
conditions of their performance and ethics, the
‘know be’ so to speak.
Training is specialized preparation because it
is adapted year after year to the new advances
in science that are applied to the legal field and
to legislative reforms. Additionally, training
should be multidisciplinary because judges need
everyday knowledge on new subject matters
that are not so strictly legal and in other areas
that provide us with fundamental tools for
our work. Training opens judges’ mindsets to
cultural diversity and diverse social realities.
In training, you cannot lose sight of the fact
that humility and simplicity are fundamental
in the exercise of the judicial function. You
cannot think that you are always in possession
of the truth — doubt is very healthy and you
should not discard others’ opinions, because
they enrich us with other points of view, or
even give different solutions to the problems
we are facing. Of course, naturally, we are
always subject to the law and the rest of the
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