A/HRC/38/38 69. In the majority of countries that responded to the questionnaire, judicial councils have a mixed composition of judges and non-judges. In some countries, they are composed exclusively of judges.66 Judge members 70. In the vast majority of States that responded to the questionnaire, judges constitute the majority of members of the judicial council; only in a few cases, do they constitute a minority of the council members.67 71. There is no consensus at the international level as to which levels of the judiciary should be represented in a judicial council. Earlier legal standards recommended that judge members be selected from the higher ranks of the judiciary, 68 whereas more recent instruments advocate for the selection of judges “from all levels of the judiciary and with respect for pluralism within the judiciary”. 69 In practice, in many countries, high-level judges constitute the majority of the judge members of the judicial council.70 Non-judge members 72. As regards the non-judge members of judicial councils, regional instruments provide that they may comprise members of the legal profession, including law professors, eminent jurists and members of the Bar, and citizens of acknowledged reputation and experience. In order to protect the judiciary from external interference, a number of regional instruments expressly provide that lay members of judicial councils cannot be active politicians or members of parliament, the Government or the administration. 73. The Special Rapporteur considers that the participation of members who are not part of the judiciary can provide added value to the work of judicial councils, and may be justified by the need to avoid the risks of “corporatism” and to facilitate democratic oversight of the quality and impartiality of justice. Given the trend to judicialize broad social areas, the Special Rapporteur also considers that it would be appropriate to include professionals from areas other than law (e.g. experts in management, finances or social sciences) in the membership of councils. 74. The State practice concerning lay members of judicial councils is extremely varied. In the vast majority of countries that responded to the questionnaire, judicial councils include lay members chosen among law professors, eminent jurists, members of the legal profession, and citizens of acknowledged status. In some countries, the Head of State or President of the Republic 71 and members of the Government, usually the Minister of Justice,72 and of parliament73 participate in the work of the council, usually ex officio. Selection methods 75. The Special Rapporteur considers it essential that members of a judicial council, whether judges or not, be selected on the basis of their competence, experience, understanding of judicial life, capacity for discussion and culture of independence, on the basis of an objective, fair and transparent process in which “the judiciary and other parties directly linked with the justice system must have a substantial say with respect to selecting 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 14 Council, the competence of the Constitutional Court and special financial zones, 13 October 2014, para. 76. Bahrain, Hungary and Oman. Andorra, Norway, Philippines and Portugal. See, for example, the Beijing Statement of Principles of the Independence of the Judiciary in the LAWASIA Region, principle 15. See Council of Europe Committee of Ministers, recommendation CM/Rec(2010)12, para. 27. See also opinion No. 10 of the Consultative Council of European Judges, para. 27; and the Kyiv Recommendations on Judicial Independence, para. 7. E.g. Japan and Mexico. Italy. Côte d’Ivoire, Mauritania, Montenegro, Nepal, Serbia and Turkey. Croatia, Montenegro and Serbia.