Exclusive interview: Canadian judicial specialist Adele Kent comments on the concept of a modern judge

A delegation of the Canadian National Judicial Institute headed by Chief Specialist on the judicial system Adele Kent arrived in Uzbekistan.

During the visit, within the framework of a seminar held at the High School of Judges, Adele Kent gave an interview to Kun.uz correspondent. In it, Mr. Kent shared his views on the qualities of modern judges, women judges, online education and much more.

- In Uzbekistan, online education is being introduced in many spheres and this is a novelty for our country. What aspects of this type of education should be paid attention to and how effective is such education in Canada?

An interesting question, we are currently in Canada in the process of transition to a sophisticated educational system. I don’t know how it is in Uzbekistan, but in Canada we recommend using a podcast system in matters of judicial ethics. We develop these video casts and podcasts ourselves. They are quite brief and do not require much time. Any judge at lunchtime can watch a video and analyze some issues.

- What qualities, in your opinion, should a modern judge have?

A judge should be familiar with laws, rights and jurisprudence. In addition, the judge must be familiar with the social context of issues, i.e. he must take into account that the participants in the process also have certain experience and views on life. The judge must be an expert in the field of dialogue with people. He/she must master the ability to communicate and dialogue well.

- What is the place of female judges in Canada, how is their attitude to this specialty?

Recently, there has been an increase in the number of female judges in Canada. I can’t give exact statistics, but we are striving to achieve the figure of 50% of the total number of judges. In my opinion, women aspire to become judges just as much as men.

For reference: the National Judicial Institute of Canada (NJI), located in Ottawa, was founded in 1988. It is an independent, non-governmental organization, headed by the Chief Justice of Canada. The staff is about 50 employees and the budget is about $9 million. It has four departments – Educational, Financial, Operational and International.