The End of the World As They Knew It: Should Former Judges be denied Admission to the Bar after the Transition to Democracy?
6 (3) Revista Brasileira de Politicas Públicas/Brazilian Journal of Public Policy (2016), pp. 32-41
Posted: 27 Dec 2019
Date Written: June 20, 2015
Abstract
Judges who have worked in a non-political field, such as contract law, in an undemocratic system, might no longer be seen fit to work as judges after a country has transitioned to democracy. Nevertheless, they might have legal expertise in their specific area of practice which can be valuable for society. Using the example of the reunification of Germany in 1990 and the transition of judges from the former German Democratic Republic (East Germany) to the legal system of the unified Federal Republic of Germany, the author, formerly a practising lawyer in Germany, Visiting Professor for Transitional Justice at the University of Turin and Associate Professor of Fundamental and Human Rights at the University of Lapland, asks whether such judges ought to be admitted to the bar as attorneys in the new democratic legal system.
Keywords: attorneys, judges, bar admission, transitional justice, democracy
JEL Classification: K33
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation