Standards of Ethical Conduct of Judges in Modern Concept of Judicial Power
Standards of Ethical Conduct of Judges in Modern Concept of Judicial Power Abstract: this article deals with issues of nature, essence and purpose of principles of ethical conduct of judges, personified with judicial power as its holders. The purpose of the article is to develop and substantiate meaning and role of standards of ethical conduct of judges in modern concept of judicial power. To achieve this goal, an approach based on the idea of the integrity of the judiciary is used. The theory of the integrity of the judiciary, involving the inseparability of ideas about it and judges as its holders, is not used in the domestic literature as a methodological basis for the study of judicial ethics. Although in the foreign legal science and International legal acts, representations about ethical duties of judges are built from the position of judicial integrity. The nature of judicial morality is indissolubly tied to and follows from the nature and characteristics of the judiciary. The modern concept of judicial power is formed taking into account value concepts and ethical categories. At the heart of the ethical obligations of judges is the notion of judicial integrity, consisting in the personification of the judiciary through the judge. Self-identification of the judiciary in the person of a judge is possible only within the framework of ethical conduct. Such integrity makes the judge worthy to fulfill his mission and legitimizes his actions. The Code of Judicial Ethics is adopted within the framework of the responsibility of judges to society for the proper administration of justice. The Code establishes a format for judicial conduct that causes public confidence in the judiciary and the justice administered by the judges. The principles and rules of the Code of Judicial Ethics are intended, first of all, for self-correction of professional and off-duty behavior of judges by themselves. The rules of ethical behavior are created and controlled by the judges themselves in the person of the judicial community bodies. They are accepted as uniform standards of ethical conduct for judges of all courts and competencies.