Not so much some random local court where you go to get divorced, to argue that your narcissistic coworker Bob hit your car, or stuff like that, but the ones that make high up decisions.

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15 comments

  1. Generally nobody cares about how you become a judge in Denmark. Usually they’re jurists with a couple of years of experience, who apply for openings at courts, much like other jobs. There is however a special education on top of the regular education, you have to complete to become a judge, _and_ you need to be recommended. It’s not really anything that is debated, if this is a good system or not.

  2. No one cares. The judiciary branch in the Netherlands is very technocratic and not democratic. So no jury, no interest in appointments, etc.

    Judges and attorney’s are also not specifically high-status jobs like it appears to be in for instance the US.

  4. No one cares because there is a clear academic and processual path for becoming a judge.

    The process and requirements are explained here: [https://cej.justica.gov.pt/ENGLISH/Admission-to-the-Judiciary](https://cej.justica.gov.pt/ENGLISH/Admission-to-the-Judiciary)

    Edit: Forgot to mention we do not have jurisprudence in Portugal, so even high court judges do not have the same impact in society as in countries with jurisprudence. Something Row v Wade would never happen in Portugal. Instead we had a nation wide referendum on decriminalising abortion.

  5. We dont have a supreme court in the american sense. No court is going to decide whether or not to legalise gay marriage or ban abortion or sth like that. This stuff is usually decided by the parliament (with the people always having the option of overruling parliament by popular vote at any time).

    I dont actually know how any judges are chosen here and dont care and never heard that anybody does. But i do know that they are all people with law degrees and experience. Not random people.

  6. Czechia:

    Recently there was quite a big affair, the president nominated new constitutional judges and it turned out that one of them had sentenced a lot of people during the communist dictatorship for trying to emigrate (emigration was forbidden without state permission) and that he had sentenced one person in a suspicious case where it was apparently of interest to the communist secret police.

    The judge was otherwise experienced and had even been a judge of the International Criminal Court for some time.

    There was a lot of talk about this in the media and among politicians, and the candidate eventually resigned himself.

    https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Fremr

  7. Basically no one cares. Even someone who follow news closely would struggle to name who the President of the Supreme Court is (that’s our “Chief Justice”), let alone the associate justices, or what their “views” are on judicial matters. It’s a court of last resort for civil and criminal cases. The most important function of the Supreme Court is to establish judicial precedents, thus ensuring uniformity in the administration of justice by the lower courts.

    Parallel with the Supreme Court, we have a *Supreme Administrative Court* which is responsible for administrative law cases (yeah, it’s not the most exciting subject). Its jurisdiction covers the legality of decisions of government officials. The people who work there are probably even more obscure than the ones from the Supreme Court.

    The judicial system is apolitical and there’s rarely any political debate about it. The justices and judges represent the courts and the law, not any political opinions.

  8. My impression is that the general public have no clue how a person becomes a judge. Many people don’t have a good grasp on how the court system works or who makes the decisions at the various stages. I’d say the majority of Swedes don’t have any strong opinions on the process to become a judge, but maybe that would change if people were more informed on how it works.

    People within the legal field, and especially those working in the courts, care a lot more.

  9. In Denmark you of course first have to get your law degree, then you will need several years of experience in the field. Then you can apply to become a judge, you will if accepted enter training, where you will work in the 3 departments of one of the 2 circuits of the landscourt (first appeals level, so middle of the 3 levels) where you will work with 2 other experienced judges, and recieve training and feedback. It will end with you recieving an evaluation of your fitness to be a judge.

    Now you can apply for a job opening as judge, you apply like for any other job, but must include the evaluation. The judgeappointeeboard will then review your application, this board has 1 member from the supreme court, 1 from the landscourts, 1 from the city courts, 1 lawyer and 2 representatives of the public (no politicians allowed) [currently the 2 are 1 from the national businesses association, the other is from FOF, a public further education and enlightenment foundation]. If they approve of your application they will advise the minister of justice to advise the Queen to appoint you.

    Judges can’t usually be fired again, so that’s why the process is so meticulous and involved, being appointed a judge before turning 40 is next to impossible. While you technically can begin your judging career in the landscourts, it’s rare and you will normally be elevated from a city court. The high court is only be elevation, and you will be tested on a minimum of 4 cases.

  11. Nobody knows any judges. They are never on the news either. Most of us have civil law system so your average person is maybe a bit more detached from the whole thing.

  12. No one cares in Austria, since it wouldn‘t change anything if they did.

    With judges on the Constitutional Court, six are chosen by the government, six are chosen by the legislative, and approved by the president.

    With judges on the Supreme Administrative Court, they are chosen by the government from a binding three person proposal by the current SAC judges, and approved by the president.

    With judges on the Supreme Court, a five person committee made up of current SC judges sends a candidate proposal to the ministry of Justice, who will propose them to the president, who then approves.

    Of course, all require years, if not a decade, of experience being a judge and academic legal writings.

    I‘d be surprised if people outside the legal profession even knew all the different ways of becoming a judge on the highest courts.

  13. Considering they dont make that important decision, not even the supreme court not a whole lot of people care or know how to become say a Supreme court justice. They’re all just regularly employed people in all cases, not appointed by Parliament or the government or something.

  14. As far as I can tell as a citizen I have no say about who gets to be judge and it basically is a job anyone with the proper education can apply for, the selection process is quite strict and thorough though, it’s not like anyone with the right papers will get it.

  15. Hardly anybody. It works different from the US and Canada. We, the people of Germany, have no influence, if a judge for the highest courts is selected, it’s made sure, that the court is balanced in political views. But that’s only a thing for the Bundesverfassungsgericht (Constitution Court), which controls the government and takes care of laws, so they aren’t against the constitution.

    They sit over disputed laws or decisions from lower courts.

    There are also some more courts for different fields, for example the BGH (Bundesgerichtshof) or the Bundesverwaltungsgericht (Administration).

    For most of those courts, political orientation of the judges are “left at the cloakroom”, when they put on their robes.

    We trust the highest courts. Maybe a bit too much, but nonetheless. Something like in the US, where the highest court can overrule in the way they can, is nearly impossible in Germany. And no president or chancellor can decide who becomes judge.

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