1. The Committee of
Ministers has carefully examined Parliamentary Assembly Recommendation 2087 (2016) on “Judicial corruption: urgent need to implement the
Assembly’s proposals” and has forwarded it to the relevant committees
and bodies for information and comments.Note
2. The Committee of Ministers shares the Assembly’s opinion regarding
the importance of fighting judicial corruption through the promotion
of judicial ethics and conduct. This priority concern has been and
continues to be the subject of extensive activity by relevant Council
of Europe bodies such as the GRECO – in particular through its monitoring
reports and resulting recommendations to member States – or the
CDCJ, through legal instruments or other texts relating, in particular,
to strengthening judicial independence and impartiality or setting
out standards of conduct for judges. The Committee of Ministers
would also recall the Council of Europe Plan of Action on “Strengthening
Judicial Independence and Impartiality” (CM(2016)36-final) which allows, inter alia,
for various Council of Europe bodies to assist member States in
their fight against corruption.
3. In paragraph 3.1 of its recommendation, the Assembly calls
on the Committee to elaborate a model code of conduct directed at
judicial officials, along the lines of the model code of conduct
for public officials appended to Committee of Ministers’ Recommendation Rec(2000)10 on codes of conduct for public officials. The Committee
of Ministers notes that whilst various forms of ethical standards
already exist in most member States, there are still widespread
concerns across many member States regarding judicial ethics and
conduct, possibly due to an inadequate or non-implementation of
such standards. In this respect, the Committee of Ministers considers
that a model code of conduct may be an effective tool for member
States, particularly if such a code of conduct is complemented by
explanatory comments and/or practical examples and concrete guidance
for resolving ethical dilemmas with which judges are not always
well acquainted. Practice-oriented training and confidential counseling
could further assist in strengthening the implementation of a code
of conduct. The Committee of Ministers would therefore invite the
CDCJ, in consultation with the GRECO and the CCJE, to examine in
further detail the feasibility and potential added value of possibly
preparing a model code of conduct (in its programme for the biennium
2018-2019) along these lines.
4. Finally, the Committee of Ministers has also noted with interest
the proposal from the Assembly on gathering and updating information
on prosecutions and convictions of judges for corrupt conduct in
member States. The CDCJ will be able to examine this suggestion
in the course of its work on the above-mentioned feasibility study.
