The Comparative Law and Economics of Judicial Councils

Nuno Garoupa, University of Illinois College of Law
Tom Ginsburg, University of Chicago

Abstract

In recent decades, many countries around the world have institutionalized judicial councils, institutions designed to maintain an appropriate balance between judicial independence and accountability. Our paper, the first comparative inquiry into this phenomenon, has two aims. First, we provide an economic theory of the formation of judicial councils and identify some of the dimensions along which they differ. Second, we discuss the national experience of several legal systems in light of our theory.