Judicial education and leadership in the era of artificial intelligence and in the face of human rights challenges: SC judges take part in the conference of the International Organisation for Judicial Training

The international forum, which brought together judges and representatives of judicial education from all continents, was held on 3-7 November 2024 in Seoul (Republic of Korea). This year's eleventh conference focused on judicial training in the era of technology and artificial intelligence, development and strengthening of institutions in the justice system, judicial leadership, as well as judicial education's response to contemporary human rights challenges. The event was attended by Judge of the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court Kostiantyn Pilkov and Judges of the Commercial Cassation Court of the Supreme Court Olena Kibenko and Ivan Mischenko.

Supreme Court Judge Olena Kibenko spoke at the session on innovative approaches to writing court decisions. The judge shared the Supreme Court's experience in developing a new culture of writing procedural documents in Ukraine.

The development by the Supreme Court judges of a clearly structured model of a court decision, the use of new elements such as an introduction and key issues, and plain language techniques have improved the perception of decisions by readers. According to the speaker, the fact that such a structure is voluntarily used by lower court judges and lawyers proves the effectiveness of the approach.

During the session on judicial leadership and strengthening the capacity of justice system institutions, Ivan Mishchenko noted the importance of developing the managerial and leadership skills of judges, especially those elected to judicial governance bodies.

The judge said that active preparations are underway to organise a joint project ‘Judicial leadership for Ukraine’ to train Ukrainian judges in this area using the methods of the National Centre for State Courts, which brings together experts in the organisation of justice, the effectiveness of justice and judicial training in the United States.

David Vaughn, USAID Justice for All Program Chief of Party, also made a special presentation on the experience of implementing management development trainings for court leaders and court staff in Ukraine.

Supreme Court Judge Kostiantyn Pilkov joined the discussion of the problems of making the language of court proceedings accessible to the general public and noted the multidimensional nature of the leadership problem of judges, who, in the current context of challenges to human rights and the rule of law, have a moral and even legal obligation to publicly defend these fundamental values.

This year's conference was organised by the International Organisation for Judicial Training (IOJT), which brings together national judicial education organisations in more than 50 countries, and the Judicial Research and Training Institute of Korea (JRTI).

As part of the visit, the judges also visited the Supreme Court of the Republic of Korea, its Information Technology Centre, the Judicial Research and Training Institute of Korea, the Seoul Central District Court, and the Embassy of Ukraine in the Republic of Korea, where they met with Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Dmytro Ponomarenko.

The participation of the judges in this prestigious forum was made possible with the support of the USAID Justice for All Program.