Date: 11 March 2021
Time: 16:00-17:00
Venue: Zoom
#Master’s Week 2021
Courts have many roles in a democratic society. Three of the main roles of courts are resolving disputes, monitoring government action and making policy. With some courts experiencing an increased judicialization of politics, especially courts of last resort, political questions are being decided by their judges. Making courts in these instances an arena where law and politics intersect.
But how are judges selected? Who chooses them and why are they chosen? How can selection methods preserve judicial independence while simultaneously hold judges accountable? How do the different institutional designs affect their independence and accountability structures?
In this seminar Anja Tucker (LawTransform) will present different selection methods for judges. The various selection methods present different types of incentive structures for judges in their decision-making process. These incentive structures can have potential implications for judges’ independence and accountability.
Anja’s presentation will be followed by a discussion with Ragna Aarli (UiB), Jon Kåre Skiple (Norce). Moderated by Siri Gloppen (UiB/LawTransform).
Anja Tucker has Master’s Degree in Comparative Politics, University of Bergen. The topic of her master’s thesis was the selection methods of judges. At the Centre on Law and Social Transformation she is the PR-coordinator.
Ragna Aarli is a Professor at Faculty of Law, University of Bergen. My research spans from constitutional law to human rights law and procedural law and various combinations of these research fields.
Jon Kåre Skiple is a political scientist with PhD degree in Comparative Politics from the University of Bergen 2019. His research interest includes voluntary organizations and civil society, political participation, social scientific research methods, and judicial behavior.
Siri Gloppen is the Director of LawTransform (the CMI-UiB Centre of Law and Social Transformation) and Professor of Comparative Politics at the University of Bergen. Political scientist with a research focus in the intersection between law and politics.