Development of emotion management skills of judicial system employees as a prerequisite to effective performance

The article substantiates the need for judicial system employees to develop emotional intelligence as a component of their soft skills and a prerequisite to deliver high standards in their professional activity. Regrettably, we have neither special training programs for the systematic emotional intelligence development nor special counseling services that would help judicial system employees to recognize their emotions and correctly perceive the emotions of others at workplace. Concepts such as to analyze the emotional intelligence concept and its components based on the knowledge and skills that all employees of the Russian judicial system must have. In this regard, the article proposes various emotion management methods. Emotional intelligence is the ability of a person to recognize and correctly interpret the emotions of other people, understand their intentions and causes of their actions, understand his/her own emotions and desires, and be able to manage them. Developing emotional intelligence would help judges and court staff to cope with emotional stress, reduce the risk of occupational burnout, and would also help to maintain their mental health. Every judge must be aware of his or her emotions to remain impartial and unbiased in the judicial decision-making process. They can achieve this through the development of emotional awareness, self-regulation, and self-control, including various physical and mental approaches and methods. Physical methods provide for managing emotions at the muscular level; whereas mental methods, in turn, are associated with managing emotions by changing one’s thoughts.