Judicial Accountability

The word accountability suggests taking responsibility by a person or a body or country for its action for punishment avoidance or by giving valid reasons. Judicial accountability can be described as the judges’ view where they should be held accountable for their work. This could be in different ways, like being accountable to the public to get voters’ approval in the election or being accountable to some political body like the legislature or governor. Several countries have judicial answerability and accountability of the judges in their constitutions. This is done so there that power is not concentrated on one hand, especially in countries the activism of the judicial body invades the domain of other organs.

This article will discuss Judicial Accountability in the context of the IAS Exam.

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Need for Judicial Accountability

• To avoid any disastrous situation in the democratic system, there is a necessity for the individual enjoying the ‘democratic republic’ power to be accountable for it. There should be comprehensive accountability to include the judges, bureaucrats, and others vested with power, not only politicians. The judicial system looks after the administration of justice by the courts’ agency.
• The discharge of the duties of the judges is revered, but there are many cases in which the judges’ decisions led to frustration in getting justice, and people tend to lose faith in the judiciary. Sometimes to get justice, people tend to take it into their own hands. This is not a wanted situation; therefore, judiciary accountability is done.
• Judicial accountability in India is also there. The judiciary body should have independence so that the judge can act according to his oath to be fearless and not hold emotions such as ill will, affection and favour in the court and uphold the country’s law and constitution.
• The Indian Constitution has put in Article 235 to have accountability as an aspect of independence. Through this article, the High Court can have ‘control’ over the subordinate judiciary to put forth their accountability.

Ethics Code for a Judge

Certain ethics are a must for a judge to maintain. Some of them are stated below.

• Ethical decision: The judicial decision has to be honest and fair. This is very important because the public’s confidence lies in the judges. The opinion of judges has to be according to their proficient facts and law.
• Administer Justice: The main motto of the judge should be not to fear anything while administering justice.
• Maintaining distance from relatives: The judge needs to distance himself from the disputing parties and their lawyers during the trial conduct. It is often seen that a close connection with judges is utilised to win over a case, which is unethical.
• Equal Opportunity: Both the parties disputing should be equally treated by the principles of law and equity. The judge should be above any bias on group, caste, section or division. There should be equal opportunities given to the parties during the trial. The judge should not be affected by anyone’s personality. The judge cannot disregard the presence of law and equity in terms of fairness while discharging his duties.
• No man can be judged in his/her cause: This principle of ethics applies to the case where the judge is convicted as a party and in cases that can have the judges’ interest. The impartiality of the judges is one prime aspect. The Supreme Court manifests this.

Judicial accountability cases are done if any judiciary member breaks these ethical codes.

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