About Us
Mission
- To promote the rule of law by supporting the work of judicial education institutions
around the world. - To facilitate cooperation among judicial training institutes from around the world
and to assist interested developing countries with the training of judges. - To provide members with information about judicial training
methods in different countries.
These goals are realized by international conferences and other exchanges that provide opportunities for judges and judicial educators to discuss issues of common interest such as strategies for establishing and funding training centers, designing effective curricula, developing faculty capacity, and improving teaching methodology.
Statutes
As of November 2011
Article 1: Organization
1. The International Organization for Judicial Training (IOJT) consists of judicial training institutes that have been admitted pursuant to the requirements of these Statutes.
2. English will be the working language of IOJT.
Article 2: Aims, Objectives and Activities
1. The purposes of the IOJT are:
a. To encourage the establishment of judicial training institutes;
b. To promote the rule of law;
c. To consider common issues for the training and education of judges;
d. To develop machinery for the exchange of judges;
2. The IOJT will achieve these purposes by:
a. Promoting and advancing co-operation among its members;
b. Facilitating international exchange of information;
c. Organizing international, national and local meetings and congresses;
d. Preparing and distributing professional materials;
e. Developing educational programs and materials;
f. Promoting and conducting collaborative research;
g. Developing consensus statements on issues relevant to IOJT;
h. Establishing committees to deal with specific issues, and
i. Pursuing other means harmonious with the purposes of IOJT.
3. The IOJT will advance and promote the study, instruction and training of the art of judging.
Article 3: Membership
1. Judicial training institutes whose goals are consonant with those of the IOJT are eligible for membership in IOJT. A judicial training institute is a local, national or international institute that offers training to potential or active professional judges.
2. The decision to admit a judicial training institute to the IOJT is made by the Executive Committee. Applications by national judicial training institutes will be automatically approved by the Executive Committee. Other applications will be approved by the Executive Committee at its discretion.
3. The participants of the 2002 judicial conference constitute the Founding Body of the IOJT and are regarded as voting members of the First General Assembly.
Article 4: Structure
The IOJT will consist of a General Assembly, a Board of Governors, an Executive Committee, a President, Deputy Presidents, a Secretary-General, a Treasurer and other committees.
Article 5: The General Assembly
1. The General Assembly is the governing body of the IOJT. It is composed of the delegates of Member Judicial Training Institutes. The General Assembly meets every two or three years. An extraordinary General Assembly may be convened at any time by the Executive Committee or at the request of at least a third of the Member Institutes. Decisions of General Assemblies will be made by a simple majority vote of the Member Institutes present, unless otherwise provided in the following articles. There will be no voting by proxy.
2. The General Assembly:
a. Determines the policies of the IOJT.
b. Receives the reports of the President, the Secretary-General, the Treasurer and the Audit Committee.
c. Elects the President, the Secretary-General, the Deputy Secretary-General and the Treasurer. They shall be members of the Executive Committee. The President, with the advice of the Nominating Committee, shall appoint up to four additional members of the Executive Committee.
d. Elects five Regional Deputy Presidents, one from each of the following regions: Africa and the Middle East; Asia and the Pacific; Europe; North, Central America and the Caribbean; South America.
e. Authorizes the President to appoint two additional Deputy President as
needed.
f. Elects the members of the Board of Governors.
g. Bestows honorary titles on individuals.
Article 6: The Board of Governors
The Board of Governors shall consist of up to twenty five (25) members: The members of the Executive Committee, the Regional Deputy Presidents, and additional members. The powers of the IOJT between General Assemblies are vested in the Board of Governors. The decisions will be made by a simple majority vote in the minimum presence of 8 members. In the case of parity of votes, the President has a casting vote. The Board of Governors shall determine its procedure and mode of voting.
Article 7: The Executive Committee
The powers of the IOJT between the Meetings of the Board of Governors are vested in the Executive Committee. The decisions will be made by a simple majority vote in the minimum presence of three members. In the case of parity of votes, the President has a casting vote. The Executive Committee shall determine its procedure and mode of voting. Unless the Statutes designate otherwise, the Executive Committee shall establish all committees, including a three member Nominating Committee and appoint their members and chairs. In the event of a vacancy among the members of the Board of Governors, the Executive Committee has the power to appoint a replacement, pending confirmation by the next meeting of the General Assembly.
Article 8: The President
The President chairs all meetings of the General Assemblies, the Board of Governors and the Executive Committee. The President is responsible for the implementation of the decisions of these bodies. The President convenes the General Assembly, the Board of Governors and the Executive Committee and decides upon the agenda of their meetings. The President represents the Organization in all official matters.
Article 9: Assets
The assets of the IOJT will be utilized solely to meet its financial liabilities. Organization members, members of the Board of Governors, Executive Committee, the various committees and other officers will not be personally liable for debts incurred by the Organization.
Article 10: Amendments of the Statutes
The Statutes of the IOJT may be amended by two-thirds majority vote taken at the General Assembly. Any proposals for a change of the Statutes will be circulated to all Members and have to be submitted to the Executive Committee for its recommendation at least three months before the meeting of the General Assembly.
Article 11: Dissolution
1. The dissolution of the IOJT will be decided by the General Assembly at the request of the Executive Committee, or at the request of more than one half of the Members. The General Assembly will, with two-thirds majority, order the dissolution of the Organization.
2. All sums remaining within the funds of the IOJT after liquidation will be distributed equally among the Members.
History
The IOJT is an international organization of judicial training institutes which aims at providing its members with the opportunity to learn from one another, to share innovative approaches to the education of the judiciary and to build a strong network of people involved in judicial education.
The initiative for the establishment of an international organization of judicial training institutes was first raised at a conference held in Sao Paulo, Brazil in 1997. A declaration stating the importance of international cooperation between institutes for judicial training, and calling for the establishment of an international organization designated to this issue, was signed.
Representatives from 10 countries participated in a preparatory conference for the establishment of an international forum, which was held in Jerusalem in December 1999. In The "Jerusalem Declaration" that was signed delegates agreed that a conference would be convened with the intention of establishing an international organization for the training of the judiciary.
In March 2002, the first international forum convened in Jerusalem with the participation of representatives from 24 countries, including representatives from the Council of Europe and The World Bank. The International Organization for Judicial Training – IOJT – was established and its Statutes approved. The General Assembly elected Dr. Shlomo Levin, Director of the Israeli Institute for Advanced Judicial Studies as IOJT President. It also elected five regional vice-presidents, the Secretary-General and Treasurer, an Executive Committee and various additional committees. It was agreed to hold the next conference in Ottawa, Canada.
In February 2003 The Philippine Judicial Academy headed by Chancellor Ameurfina Melancio Herrera, (then IOJT's Regional Vice-President for Asia and the Pacific) hosted the first meeting of the Australasia Judicial Educators Forum (AJEF). Participants were informed about the establishment of IOJT and its objectives. IOJT's Secretary-General, Treasurer and an additional Vice-President attended the conference in Manila. Consequently new members from that region joined the organization.
The second international IOJT conference, under the theme "Judicial Education in a World of Challenge and Change" took place in Ottawa, Canada at the end of October 2004 and was organized by the Canadian National Judicial Institute. It was an outstanding success that was unexpected even by its organizers. More than 300 representatives from close to 90 countries took part. During the conference, stimulating symposiums, discussions and seminars were held. The deliberations focused mostly on judicial training and on instruction methods of judicial training schools and institutes. The Statutes of the IOJT were amended and a Board of Governors, comprised of 21 representatives from around the world, was established. Moreover, a special committee aimed at assisting developing countries was formed. During the conference and as a result of it, many new members have joined the IOJT and the organization reached 60 institute-members. A European representative joined the Executive Committee and it was decided to hold the third international conference in October 2007 in Barcelona, Spain.
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. It focused on how to "train the trainers" both in the field of Judicial Ethics and in the area of Skill-Based Education.
At the beginning of 2008, with the kind assistance of the Federal Judicial Center (USA) a website for the organization was launched. It included information about the organization, list of and links to its members, its Statute and more. It is being constantly up-dated and developed.
The Fourth International Conference was held in Sydney, Australia, in October 2009. In this successful event, under the theme "Justice through Judicial Professional Development", over 200 participants from 48 countries enjoyed a wide range of lectures and workshops. The conference was organized by The National Judicial College of Australia. At that stage the organization grew to 87 members from 56 countries.
The Fifth Internationl conference was organized by The French National School for the Judiciary (ENM) in Bordeaux, France, from October 31 to November 3, 2011. Nearly 250 delegates from 74 countries enjoyed a rich and versitile program on the theme "Judicial Training in a a Globalized World: Restoring trust and Stability".
The organization has to date (January 2012) 103 members from 64 countries.
Board of Governors
As approved by IOJT General Assembly
Bordeaux, November 2, 2011
Executive Committee
President: Eliezer Rivlin
Secretary-General: Yigal Mersel
Treasurer: B. Paul Cotter, Jr.
Brian Lennox
Mary McQueen
Ernest Schmatt
Jean-Francois Thony
John Tsekooko
Deputy Secretary-General: Sheridan Greenland
Regional Deputy Presidents:
Mohammed Elayoubi (Africa and the Middle East)
Felix Azon (Europe)
Cristian Riego (South America)
Wayne Martin (Asia and Pacific)
Barbara Rothstein (North, Central America and Caribbean)
Additional Deputy Presidents:
Governors:
Adolfo Azcuna (Philippines)
Joseph Akamba (Ghana)
Amady Ba (Senegal)
Victor Hall (Europe)
Stoil Pashkunov (Bulgaria)
Administrative Director: Edna Azrieli