23 / 56
ENHANCING JUDICIARY`S ABILITY TO CURB CORRUPTION - A PRACTICAL GUIDE
21
TRANSPARENCY
Regarding the functioning of the judiciary
1.
The public shall have access, through an open web portal, to information regarding
the following: existing laws and bylaws governing the judiciary, proposed changes in
legislation, judicial vacancies, recruitment criteria, judicial selection procedures and
proving documents, candidate’ information and results, management plans (if any), and
reasons for judicial appointments calendar, etc. (F1)
2.
The public shall have access to information regarding the members of the commissions
appointing, evaluating, carrying out disciplinary procedures and deciding upon removal of
judges. (F2)
3.
The public shall have access to annual statistics about the cases handled, the sanctions
applied, the length of the procedures, the amount of judicial taxes received, the total budget
used, the number of staff, the costs of its operations and the total amount of corruption
proceeds that have been confiscated. (F3)
4.
The public shall be constantly informed, in an impartial manner, about pending cases
and eventual resolutions, especially those of public interest such as corruption cases.
Dissemination of this information shall not compromise confidential data and shall be done
with utmost discretion to respect the presumption of innocence.. (F4)
5.
Information about public hearings and decisions shall be made available through an open
web portal that centralizes data from all the courts and organizes it by levels of jurisdiction
and geographic areas. (F5)
6.
The media should be allowed to comment on legal proceedings and report suspected
corruption or bias. However, the media shall not misuse the information to create a false
public impression about the innocence or guilt of a person, nor shall it attempt to influence
the judges or prosecutors involved in the case. (F6)
Regarding judicial process
7.
Parties shall have access to a public hearing before an independent and impartial court. (F7)
8.
The parties are entitled to be present at hearings in person and not only through
representatives. (F8)
9.
Civil society and media shall have access to the hearings. (F9)
10.
Decisions shall be pronounced in public hearings, together with their reasons. (F10)
11.
Parties shall have access to the court rulings. (F11)
12.
Parties shall have access to an interpreter, if they do not understand the language the court
uses. (F12)
13.
The defendant, as well as the civil parties shall have the right to see the entire file in order
to properly prepare his/ her/ their defence. (F13)
14.
The defendant`s rights can be restricted only for reasons justified by national security and
protection of witnesses. (F14)
15.
The reasons of the decisions are written in an accessible language so that the defendant
can understand them. (F15)