Events

Lukashenko urges new approaches to judicial candidates

MINSK, 5 April (BelTA) – The most important task of the judicial system is to build a strong personnel base, Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko said as he attended a meeting in the new building of the Supreme Court on 5 April to discuss ways to improve the activity of general courts, BelTA has learned.

According to the head of state, many issues in this area of expertise have already been resolved. The prestige of the profession and the appeal of judicial jobs rose; the state made sure that judicial employees have decent salaries. “Senior officials have certain instruments to raise salaries,” he noted.

“It is time to talk about the quality of the judicial staff. Their educational level and high professionalism are essential for efficient work of the judiciary. First of all, we need to dramatically revise the approaches to judicial candidates. Candidates seeking judicial offices should have exceptionally high standards of morality, breadth of knowledge and intelligence, as well as life experience. This is an objective requirement of the modern-day society,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.   

The president did not give his take on the minimum age for becoming a judge. “It is up to you to make this decision. It is rare, yet some 25-year olds are responsible, smart, and educated enough to become judges. However, you should necessarily have certain life experience if you have to take decisions that can change someone’s life. The age by which one can acquire the necessary experience greatly varies. Therefore, we need to think over the criteria for selecting judicial candidates,” the head of state said.

The president emphasized the need to improve the professional level of judges currently in office. With this in mind, the Institute of Retraining of Judges was set up. “However, as far as I know, you are dissatisfied with its work. Studies are often perfunctory. Training programs are sometimes out of touch with the reality and future needs. It is time to dramatically change the way this institute operates. We need to invite the most educated, experienced and well-trained specialists, practitioners and psychologists to work there,” the president noted.

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