Problems of Legal Regulation of the Judiciary Formation Procedure

The article deals with some problems of the legal regulation of the formation of the judiciary. It is noted that the content of Article 119 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, which determines the legal status of candidates for judges, does not fully meet modern realities. First of all, it concerns the age criterion for applicants for judicial positions. The authors demonstrate that due to the increase in the period of secondary education from 10 to 11 years, as well as to the transition to a two-tier system of higher education in Russia, the average age of citizens who have received the necessary education for the post of judge is 24. Thus, if to follow Article 119 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, it is almost impossible for a 25-year-old applicant for the position of judge to have the minimum required five-year experience of legal activity, with experience currently calculated since the time one receives the legal profession. According to the authors, the age criterion is crucial in the selection of candidates, so the age of the candidate for the position of judge cannot be less than 30, which implies a sufficient life experience, established life values and a certain level of legal awareness. The authors also draw attention to the incompleteness of the wording of the requirements for the education of the candidate for the position of judge, reflected in Paragraph 1, Part 1 of Article 4 of the Law on the Status of Judges, which requires an addition: "received under a state-accredited education program". The opinions of scholars who propose to ban persons who have received correspondence legal education for the position of judge are critically evaluated since the form of training should not be an indicator of the quality of education received. It is unfair to close access to the profession to persons who do not have the financial means to receive full-time education. State measures aimed at improving the efficiency of education are supported. As a recommendation for licensing and assessment of educational programs for training lawyers as complying with the necessary requirements, it is proposed to have a mandatory review of the content of curricula in relation to the formed professional competencies by representatives of the judicial community. According to the authors, the improvement of the personnel policy in the formation of the judiciary should be a priority. For this purpose, it is proposed to update the constitutional requirements for candidates for judicial posts with regard to the age criterion for the selection of candidates for judges; to establish control by the bodies of the judicial community over the quality of training personnel for the judicial system; to ensure transparency and accessibility for citizens of the procedure for the selection of candidates for judicial posts.

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