The Role of Law Schools in Educating Judges to Increase Access to Justice

53 Pages Posted: 21 Oct 2020 Last revised: 31 May 2022

See all articles by Sande Buhai

Sande Buhai

Loyola Law School Los Angeles

Ved Kumari

University of Delhi - Faculty of Law

Amari Omaka

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Stephen A. Rosenbaum

University of California, Berkeley - School of Law; University of California, Berkeley - Othering & Belonging Institute (formerly Haas Institute for a Fair & Inclusive Society); University of Washington - Disability Studies Program

Supriya Routh

University of Victoria - Faculty of Law

Anne Taylor

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Date Written: November 5, 2011

Abstract

Through a cross-cultural look at the issue, with contributions from professors and lawyers in India, Nigeria and the United States, this article examines the role of judges as public citizens creating access to justice and, in particular, the roles that law schools play in educating judges to better perform their crucial role. Its genesis was a panel presentation at The Society of American Law Teachers (SALT) conference on Teaching in a Transformative Era: The Law School of the Future, held on December 10-11, 2010 at the University of Hawai’i. The article begins with a description of the Nigerian experience and the role of the Judicial Academy. The second section considers India, with a discussion of judicial training and judicial education. Section 3 looks briefly at the process of becoming a judge in civil law countries, and then addresses some failings with American law school training. The fourth section discusses the importance of providing social justice, community lawyering, and clinical experiences in the law school setting. The final section gives an insider’s look at judicial training and experience in the United States.

Many of the institutional processes are different, but there are also certain commonalities. In some places, individuals can become judges directly following the completion of law school. In other jurisdictions, the process is lengthier and may take many years and require much experience as a practicing lawyer. Other differences include the process of choosing judges by examination, by election or by appointment. The systems commonalities allow us to use the different experiences to shed light on the problem. In most places, law schools pay scant attention to what it means to be a judge and how judges work in the courtroom, even though judges are the most important functionaries in the court process, as they have the power to make the final decision.


Keywords: Judicial training, judicial education, judicial perspective on access to justice, cross-border pathways to judiciary

JEL Classification: K19, K39, K49

Suggested Citation

Buhai, Sande and Kumari, Ved and Omaka, Amari and Rosenbaum, Stephen A. and Routh, Supriya and Taylor, Anne, The Role of Law Schools in Educating Judges to Increase Access to Justice (November 5, 2011). Pacific McGeorge Global Business & Development Law Journal, Vol. 24, 2011, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3685608

Sande Buhai (Contact Author)

Loyola Law School Los Angeles ( email )

919 Albany Street
Los Angeles, CA 90015-1211
United States
213-736-1156 (Phone)
213-380-3769 (Fax)

Ved Kumari

University of Delhi - Faculty of Law

Faculty of Law
University of Delhi
New Delhi, Delhi 110007
India

Amari Omaka

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Stephen A. Rosenbaum

University of California, Berkeley - School of Law ( email )

Berkeley, CA 94720-7200
United States

University of California, Berkeley - Othering & Belonging Institute (formerly Haas Institute for a Fair & Inclusive Society) ( email )

Berkeley, CA 94720
United States

University of Washington - Disability Studies Program ( email )

Seattle, WA 98195
United States

Supriya Routh

University of Victoria - Faculty of Law ( email )

PO Box 2300, STN CSC
McGill at Ring Rds (Fraser Bldg)
Victoria, British Columbia V8W 3B1
Canada

Anne Taylor

affiliation not provided to SSRN

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