Who watches the watchmen : a comparative-study on judicial responsibility

Abstract

Part I of the article sets out to outline the elements of and the reasons for a modern common approach to judicial responsibility by discussing the current contours of the "human problem" indicated by the term, thus attempting to overcome the unwieldiness of the amount of information and the diversity of the perceptions of the concept of judicial responsibility as it appears in the national legal systems. Part II then suggests a typology for classifying and evaluating categories of judicial accountability, providing illustrations for each of the various categories. Finally, drawing threads from the two preceding parts, Part III discusses two extreme models of judicial responsibility, and suggests that there is a perceptible trend in world legal systems today towards a third model based on responsibility toward the "consumers" of law and justice: the citizens of each society at whose service the legal system must work.