Ethics of judge and the characteristics of its normative regulation

In the article the basic stages of formation of judicial ethics are indicated, the principle international standards of judicial ethics and conduct including the relevant case-law of the European court of human rights are expounded. The universal and European international acts regarding ethics and conduct of a judge as well as the extent of their legal obligatoriness and addressees are analyzed. The features of the normative regulation of judicial ethics requirements at the national level of Ukraine are determined. It’s proved that the main features of the normative regulation of the ethics of a judge at the international level are the following: the international standards of ethics and professional conduct of a judge make the system of principles, requirements and duties of a judge, which are not in conflict with each other. They are closely interrelated, interconnected and interdependent. These standards are expounded in the wide list of universal and regional international acts which
are adopted within the UN, Council of Europe, OSCE, other intergovernmental organizations, and also developed by international professional (judicial) associations. The international standards of judicial ethics, approved within the intergovernmental organizations, are contained mainly in resolutions, declarations, recommendations, directives of their authoritative organs. These acts are the part of so called «soft law» which is not legally binding. However, as it is indicated in the preambles of these acts, they adopted with the purpose to assist in implementation of obligatory «core» treaties such as European Convention on protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms (1950), the International covenants on civil and political rights, and
economic, social and cultural rights and others. The legal acts that are adopted by professional international associations provide corporate standards for judicial community. They are designed to provide guidance to judges and to afford the judiciary a framework for regulating judicial conduct. They are also intended to assist members of the executive and the legislature, and lawyers and the public in general, to better understand and support the judiciary. These standards presuppose that judges are accountable for their conduct to appropriate institutions established to maintain judicial standards, which are themselves independent and impartial. They are intended to supplement and not to derogate from existing rules of national law and conduct which bind the judge. The international standards of judicial ethics form the basis of the normative regulation of the judicial profession at the national level. Basic principles and rules for judiciary are constituted on the constitutional level. The standards of legal ethics of judges are worked out in the pieces of special legislation – the laws on status of judges and the codes of judicial ethics, approved by national judicial associations. Such codes are professional (corporate) ethical standards, supported by the state power. Therefore it’s suggested to single out the group of ethiclegal norms as a specific kind of regulators in the system of the social regulation.