Project “Portrait of a Judge” aims to research and identify best practices in selection, evaluation and promotion procedures of judges, as well as to set up a model of competences essential to judges and future judges.s. To successfully achieve these goals a team, consisting of scientists from universities, judiciary and non-governmental institutions acting in the field of justice was set up. The research part of the team is represented by scientists from form a leading partner Mykolas Romeris University (Lithuania), Metropolitan University of Prague (Czech Republic) and University of Oslo (Norway), who work together with practitioners and experts from a Supreme Court of Lithuania, High Judicial Council of Albania, Supreme Court of Albania and an NGO Tirana Legal Aid Society.
As the project enters its final phases and the results are already visible, the lead manager of the Project prof. dr. Salvija Mulevičienė confirms that a bold decision to bring together in almost equal parts scientists and practitioners to the team was a success. Although, as she underlines, such a decision inevitably brought a number of challenges in setting preferences, different perspectives allowed for an outburst of ideas and synergy in the search for right solutions, which in turn led to scientifically based and yet very much practically applicable results. “It is an excellent opportunity for researchers, who have a strong background in academia to communicate with judicial practitioners even more so – to achieve results, that would not only satisfy the team, but would be regarded as practically relevant and useful for the stakeholders. All the benchmark results of the Portrait of a Judge: comparative research on the selection, evaluation and promotion of judges practices, the extensive model of competences and tools to use in the procedures of selection, evaluation and promotion of judges are practically relevant and will be useful now and in the future”
During the time span of the Project a number of international events for the target audience took place, which served as a platform to meet colleagues and experts in the field, to make connections and grow ties. Two international conferences were organized (in Lithuania and Albania) and one more will be held in October 2023 in the Prague, Czech Republic. Devoted to the topic of judicial independence as the cornerstone of the rule of law and one of the core values of democratic societies it has allowed experts to learn about the importance of the selection, promotion and evaluation procedures in this regard as well as learn of the latest jurisprudence of the European Court of Justice in the field and meet each other. A number of country visits have been rendered to institutions that have mandates in selection, evaluation and promotion of judges, including the Council for the Judiciary of the Netherlands, the Council for the Judiciary and the Supreme Court of Slovenia, the High Council for the Judiciary of Albania and the Supreme Court of Estonia which allowed for a relevant share of practices. However, one of the most important outcomes all the above-mentioned activities have brought is fostering long term ties. Naturally, these ties have primarily formed among the members of the international team and spilled over into stronger ties among participating institutions, but they have also laid the ground for co-operation among the universities and institutions acting in the field of justice. When asked about “what’s next” prof. dr. Salvija Mulevičienė is open: „This cooperation has laid ground for strong cooperation ties between beneficiary and expertise countries and between partners themselves that have already led to joint initiatives in other research fields. We also see initiatives among the institutions acting in the field of justice from other states (like Estonia) following the lead and transforming existing systems of selection and evaluation of judges, and this I regard as an additional success and the added European value the Portrait of a Judge has brought”.
