The Inspection Directorate was authorized by Regulation 12 in April 1994 which was replaced by the current Regulation 47, dated July 17, 2005.
According to the current regulation, the Inspectorate evaluates the performance of all First Instance Court judges, Execution judges, Appeals Court judges, Attorneys General and Prosecuting judges at least once a year. Evaluations can lead to the promotion of sitting judges or the permanent appointment of new judges on probation.
The Directorate also evaluates the performance of staff working at various court departments and divisions. It also investigates complaints of misconduct by judges or staff members.
Moreover, inspectors are selected from a pool of senior judges working in a variety of court types, jurisdictions, departments and divisions. They possess first-hand expertise dealing with procedural and technical details of judicial work.
Judicial Inspection Types
There are two types of judicial inspection – external and internal.
External inspections are unscheduled. Inspectors make on-site visits to courts to assess the situation based on criteria set while internal inspections are a new practice developed where every Chief Judge uses a specialized set of criteria and a special form to evaluate the performance of their subordinates on a monthly basis.