In March 2020, the Parliament adopted a Draft Package of on Making Changes to the Constitutional Law “Judicial Code”, by which the age limit of a candidate for a judge was lowered from 28 to 25; the conditions for the inclusion of legal scholars in the list of candidates for judge and promotion were also revised.
In the Draft Package developed by the Ministry of Justice, stated that this change will allow involving in the system young people, who do not have suspicious or disreputable ties, who are not dependent or connected to other representatives of the system:
“…The profession does not directly depend on age; it is conditioned by the continuous improvement of professional knowledge and skills, assimilation of modern developments in the field of jurisprudence and advanced international experience, etc.”
The minimum 5 years of work experience required to be included in the list of candidates to judges has been replaced by the 3 years requirement.
As for the requirements set for the inclusion of legal scholars in the list of candidates for appointment as judges in the Court of Appeal or the Cassation Court, at least 8 years of experience in the last 10 years for the Court of Appeal has been replaced by at least 6 years of experience in the last 8 years, and in the case of the Cassation Court, it has been set conditions for inclusion of a person with a degree in the field of jurisprudence and who has taught law at a higher educational institution for at least 8 years during the last 10 years or has done scientific work at a scientific institution.
This change had controversial reactions in professional circles. Iravaban.net has studied the international experience regarding the age limit for a candidate for a judge.
International experience
There are countries that set a higher age limit for those who want to fill the vacant position of a judge than in our country, and contrary to this, a lower age limit for being appointed as a judge or training for that purpose is set in a number of countries, and in some countries such a limit is not set at all.
The Venice Commission, discussing the issue of the minimum age limit for candidates for judges, emphasized that the European standards refer to merit-based and non-discriminatory selection and do not provide for a universal standard regarding age.
In neighboring Georgia, a citizen of Georgia over 30 years of age who has a higher legal education and at least 5 years of professional experience can become a judge.
Among the countries of the region, in Azerbaijan, 30 years of age is the minimum threshold for applying for the vacant position of a judge. It is also necessary to have at least 5 years of work experience.
In the Russian Federation, for example, a person over the age of 25 who has the appropriate education and at least 5 years of experience in the field of law can become a judge.
Germany has a very serious and strict system of training judges.
Anyone who is at least 40 years old and eligible to hold the position of judge can be elected. A judge’s term of office expires after serving 12 years or reaching 68 years of age. In order to ensure independence, judges cannot be re-elected.
To become a judge in Great Britain, you must have at least 5-7 years of work experience after becoming a qualified lawyer. A future judge should first work as an assistant judge in order to learn the specifics of court work and gain experience. After that, he undergoes complex testing, the results of which determine his suitability and readiness for judicial work. A certain probationary period, which does not exceed 5 years, is also planned for the newly appointed judge.
In China, the amended Law on Judges in 2019 abolished the minimum age limit for judges, which was previously 23. Instead, the professional thresholds of judges were raised, related to their level of education and length of legal probation. According to China’s relevant field of education, it usually takes a long time to reach such a threshold, up to 27 years of age.
Narine Hovakimyan
Iravaban.net spoke about the topic with Ms Narine Hovakimyan, Judge of the Criminal Court of Appeal.
One of the reasons for reducing the age limit in Armenia is the small number of people who want to become judges. In response to our question, why the work of a judge is not attractive for young lawyers today, Hovakimyan said that the high sense of responsibility required for this work could be one of the possible reasons. “This job requires much more responsibility than other professions related to this field. In addition, judges are more in the center of attention of various bodies. The low salary is also problematic. Also, judges do not have a choice as to which specific case to hear, they deal with the case that the computer dictates. These are the possible reasons.”
To our question, regarding to how the judge assesses the lowering of the age limit, Hovakimyan stated that according to her the positive here is the change of generation that is taking place currently.
“I have a positive attitude towards the change of generation, and it is a necessity, but I consider the lowering of the threshold is a mistake in general. The position of judge is the height in the field of jurisprudence that lawyers should strive to reach. I can mention the example of the USA, where there is no age limit for this job. During one of my business trips in the USA, one of the acting judges was surprised to hear that the age limit in our country is low. He said that there, although the minimum threshold is not defined by law, every lawyer under the age of 40 does not even think or aspire to become a judge.
Before applying for the position of a judge, young people practice advocacy for 10-15 years, work as a public defender for some time, and only then apply for the position of a judge, considering it a high point.”
Hovakimyan also mentioned that she thinks that the possibility to be appointed a judge at the Court of Appeal directly, without working in the court of first instance is a mistake, as she believes that only working in the first instance court provides possibility to understand the work of the higher instance.
Continuing to talk about the factors hindering the attractiveness of the job, the judge also added that sharp criticisms, public perceptions, which is sometimes wrong, strictly regulated rules of conduct also prevent young lawyers from taking up the position of judge.
Iravaban.net also spoke regarding the topic, with human rights activist Ruben Melikyan. He mentioned that he was against lowering the age limit
Ruben Melikyan
from the very beginning. “You need life experience to be a judge, and today the age limit is low. When I was working at the Court of Cassation at the age of 26-27, I received offers to apply for the job of a judge, but my answer was that no one has the right to be a judge before the age of 30.”
Speaking about the low demand for work, the human rights activist added that judges are not immune to interference in their pending cases, which can be from both the legislature and the executive. “This does not apply to all judges and all cases, but no judge is immune from these interventions. Under these circumstances, why should a job where a person cannot be the owner of his constitutional function be attractive?”
In response to the question whether with this change it will be possible to involve young people with no dubious connections into the system, as stated in the draft package presented by the Ministry of Justice, Melikyan said that a person hardly even has social connections at that age, in general. “This contradicts the requirements for a judge, because a judge must have experience, and that implies certain social ties. Who decides what “suspicious ties” are?
We also spoke with Miss Manana Davtyan, a 3rd-year student of the Faculty of Law of Yerevan State University. Speaking about young people in the field, she noted that the work of a lawyer is more attractive for them. “Young people want to carry out activities in the private sector, to act as advocates/attorneys, to look for interesting solutions with the observance of the law and their own approach.”
According to Manana, the character and behavior of the judge should be preserved regardless of the place of work; this is also a big responsibility for a
Manana Davtyan
young, inexperienced judge. Restrictions can repel young people as well: they are the ban on engaging in commercial, entrepreneurial activities, and so on. “I do not rule out that I will have the objective to become a judge in the future, but 25 years of age is a low threshold. Of course, there will be specialists who know the field very well, but knowing the field, in my opinion, is not enough. I will think about becoming a judge only after having many years of experience.”
In order to increase the attractiveness of the work of a judge, in the fall of 2023, the salaries of the judges of the first instance courts were also increased.
The executive understands and acknowledges that there are already real risks in the judicial system regarding the lack of desire and interest to fill the existing vacant positions of judges of the First Instance Courts by highly qualified professionals.
However, the executive must admit that the low level of job attractiveness is not only related to social security, but also to the role, significance, and perceptions of the judge in society.
“This does not mean that all the RA judges are whining under the walls, but the fact that such judges exist and the names of some of them are known to the public, I think, is obvious.”
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, 16 September, 2019.
Such statements have a negative effect on increasing the role of the judge as well.
Mariam Antonyan
