Judges under stress - conference

Styreleder i DA, Cecilie Østensen Berglund, holdt innledning på den internasjonale konferansen. 

The main topic of the conference was judicial independence and resistance against inappropriate influence, be it from authoritarian regimes, parties, media or through corruption etc. Another aim was to find measures on how to counter inappropriate stress and pressure on judges. 

The conference emerged as a spin - off from the University of Oslo's project, entitled "How do rulers seek judicial compliance with authoritarian measures, how do judges react to such measures, and what are the conditions under which an independent judiciary breaks down?" Please see more here  

The cross-country conference in Vilnius convened stakeholders of the Norway grants, members of the judiciary (encompassing judges, judicial council/court administrations) from Norway, Croatia, Romania, Bulgaria, and Lithuania respectively. There were also participants from Poland and Serbia. In total, over 100 participants attended.

The focus of the conference was centered around current developments in Europe, featuring sessions on pertinent topics such as "Judicial Independence and Accountability - Current Issues and Challenges Facing the Judiciaries," "Media pressure and attacks on individual judges” and "Judicial Resistance Against Authoritarian Measures Aiming to Limit Judicial Independence”, to mention but a few.   

The conference adopted an interactive format, integrating presentations with group work and practical workshops. It engaged participants in discussions and facilitated the exchange of experiences between researchers and practitioners, thereby raising awareness about threats to the Rule of Law and judicial independence. The conference also included a book launch of UIO Professor Hans Petter Graver`s recent publication “Valiant Judges, Iniquitous Law” about heroes of law, and examples of when judges have exercised courage, moderation, wisdom, and justice, rather than blindly following the law.

There were numerous high-level speakers and academics, judges from participating countries, former judges to CJEU and ECHR, experts from the Council of Europe, and representatives from Court administrations, Ministries of Justice, and Supreme court from several of the participating countries.

Please see the full conference agenda here. The bios of all speakers and organizers can be found here.

All is all, it was a very successful event, fostering an environment of international exchange and collaboration on a timely and pertinent topic. It highlighted the importance of what Supreme Court judge, Cecilie Østensen Berglund aptly noted in her speech, namely, that an efficient, impartial and independent judiciary is the foundation of a functioning system of democratic checks and balances.

In particular, the personal stories from judges in several countries where judicial independence has been under attack, made a lasting impression on the audience. Unfortunately, it seems that courts in different countries still face contemporary powerful forces calling for illiberal measures and “reforming” the judiciary. To illustrate, in Poland the recent years, judicial independence has been under serious pressure, and judges whose rulings were not to the former government’s liking were at risk of being fired or arrested.

In the case of Poland, there is however, light at the end of the tunnel, as one of the speakers, the new deputy minister of Justice in Poland, Zuzanna Rudzinska Bluszcz, reassured us that after the parliamentary elections in Poland, the new majority in the current government is doing what they can to seek to reintroduce independent courts.  

Other useful information on the website of the conference is found here. 

En av sesjonene handlet om press ifra media og samfunnet - mot dommeres uavhengighet.