Rule against Bias and Exceptions (The Bangalore Principle of Judicial Conduct) Standing in the Gap – An Appraisal

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Rule against Bias and Exceptions (The Bangalore Principle of Judicial Conduct) Standing in the Gap – An Appraisal

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  • June 9, 2024
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Onah, H. C.a*, Nestor-Ezeme, C. C.b & Nwodo, A. J.c
acDepartment of Legal Studies, Institute of Management and Technology, Enugu
bMinistry of Justice, Enugu State, Nigeria

ABSTRACT

The Bangalore Principles of Judicial Conduct were developed by the United Nations and its allies to address a global crisis of public confidence in judicial systems perceived as corrupt. In 2000, the UN convened a meeting of chief justices to address this problem, which had persisted despite previous reform efforts. The group, known as the Judicial Integrity Group, made two key decisions. First, national judiciaries should take an active role in strengthening judicial integrity through reforms within their competence. Second, there was an urgent need for a universally accepted statement of judicial standards that could be respected and enforced by the judiciary itself, without intervention by the executive or legislative branches. Emphasis was placed on the critical role of a competent, independent and impartial judiciary in upholding human rights, constitutionalism and the rule of law. A major obstacle is violations of the rule of natural justice by those tasked with protecting it. The doctrine of “nemo judex in causa sua” – no one should be a judge in their own case – is a core principle of natural justice. This, along with the right to a fair hearing, are enshrined in constitutions like Nigeria’s and India’s. Judicial and quasi-judicial proceedings must adhere to natural justice standards throughout. While the specifics of natural justice are hard to codify, they are fundamental principles of fairness, equity and reasonability. They ensure justice is not only done, but seen to be done. A judge’s personal conduct and integrity are crucial, as “justice must not be done; but must also be seen to have been done.” Overall, the Bangalore Principles aim to strengthen judicial integrity and public confidence through a commitment to natural justice principles like nemo judex. This qualitative study concludes these principles cannot be derogated from by any decision-maker.

Keywords: Constitution; Natural Justice; Nemo Judex in Causa Sua; Nemo debet esse judex. Rule Against Bias; Audi Alterem Partem; The Bangalore Principle

Citation: Onah, H. C., Nestor-Ezeme, C. C. & Nwodo, A. J. (2024). Rule against Bias and Exceptions (The Bangalore Principle of Judicial Conduct) Standing in the Gap – An Appraisal. European Review of Law and Legal Issues 8(1), 1-19. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.12192247

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Copyright: ©2024 Authors. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

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