History
Judiciaries around the world, despite differences in their structure and procedures, share a common vision of an ideal judge. A judge must be wise, cultured, engaged with society, efficient, and just. In the twenty first century, judges are charged with the responsibility to resolve disputes of growing complexity, often with implications not only for individuals but also for maintaining the rule of law. The modern judge must be a worthy model, a master of legal technicalities, possessed of broad cultural horizons, and familiar with the norms of the society in which he or she operates.
Judicial education fosters the development of such a jurist and at the same time reinforces the rule of law by contributing to the professionalism and independence of the judiciary. Over the last forty years, judicial training centers have been established in many countries and their work has met with much success. The next stage in the development of this field has been the establishment of regional networks of judicial educators, networks that enable the exchange of ideas and best practices for institutional development, curriculum design, and program implementation.
The International Organization for Judicial Training was established to promote this essential exchange on an international level. The idea was first conceived at a conference held in Sao Paulo, Brazil in 1997. In December 1999, representatives from 10 countries gathered for a conference in Jerusalem to discuss the mission and prospects for such an international organization. A founding document, the Jerusalem Declaration, was signed and committees were nominated in order to prepare for the next meeting. This Declaration set forth the importance of international cooperation among institutes for judicial training and called for the creation of an international organization dedicated to this issue.
In March 2002, the International Organization for Judicial Training was established with its first international forum convened in Jerusalem. Representatives from 24 countries participated, including delegates from the Council of Europe and The World Bank. Those in attendance approved a statute creating the organization and leadership was elected, including a president, regional vice-presidents, executive committee and sub-committees
The second conference of the IOJT was held in Ottawa, Canada at the end of October and beginning of November 2004. It was hosted by the Canadian National Judicial Institute and was an outstanding success, far exceeding the expectations of its organizers. More than 300 representatives of judicial training schools and institutes from 90 countries took part. During the conference, symposiums, discussions and seminars were held. The deliberations focused mostly on judicial training and the instructional methodologies employed by judicial training schools and institutes from many different countries. The statutes of the IOJT were amended, a Board of Governors comprised of 21 representatives from around the world was established, and a special committee charged with assisting developing countries was formed. The Ottawa conference yielded many new IOJT members and the organization grew to 60 members. Over 200 participants from 50 countries participated in the third international conference held in Barcelona, Spain in October, 2007. It was organized by the Center for Legal Studies and Specialized Training of Catalonia and under the auspices of the UNESCO Chair in Bioethics.
One of the IOJT's main goals is to provide its members with information about judicial training methods that exist in different countries and strategies for faculty development. The IOJT aims to further cooperation among training institutes from around the world and to assist interested developing countries with the training of judges. Many developing countries lack the resources needed to develop a judicial training capacity and sometimes face challenges with organizing their efforts effectively. The IOJT hopes its work will support this need through disseminating information and providing mentoring responsive to the domestic needs of each country.