Skip to menu Skip to main content
Show search field
fr
  1. Home Page
  2. What We Do
  3. Good Judgment: Judicial Decision-Making and Judicial Method
National Judicial Institute
October 24 2017 - October 27 2017

Good Judgment: Judicial Decision-Making and Judicial Method

This program presented best practices in judicial decision-making at the trial and appellate levels.

Number of Participants: 23

Overview

This program presented best practices in judicial decision-making at the trial and appellate levels.

Objective

The objective of this seminar was to provide trial and appellate judges with skills to review and improve their approaches to decision-making.

Summary

This seminar was planned by trial and appellate judges in collaboration with legal academics. Through a combination of lectures and small-group discussions, participants considered topics such as: exercising judicial discretion; independence and impartiality in a diverse society; the role of the judge in a constitutional democracy; critical issues in constitutional cases; the approaches to novel cases; and the modern principle of statutory interpretation.

One session explored the topic of judging with independence, impartiality, and compassion. The session considered the duty to judge using an independent and impartial mind in a diverse society. Questions considered included:

  • How does a judge ensure that they are truly impartial?
  • When should a judge decline to sit because of reasonable apprehension of bias?
  • What does it mean to judge with compassion?