Constitution Hill Global Guidelines on Apex Court Appointments

There are many important national, regional and international principles and guidelines on the selection and appointment of judges. What has been missing is a set of baseline principles tailored to the unique role and characteristics of Apex Courts and customisable to the unique conditions of diverse country and/or regional contexts. To fill the gap, IFIT – in partnership with Constitutional Transitions and a High-Level Advisory Panel composed of distinguished judges and jurists from a wide spectrum of legal systems – established the Initiative on Apex Court Appointments in 2021. The Constitution Hill Global Guidelines on Apex Court Appointments mark the final outcome (available in English, French, Spanish, Portuguese and Arabic). The Guidelines are entirely original but draw from a range of key sources including: (i) a detailed IFIT study of existing global and regional principles on judicial appointments and judicial independence; (ii) a comprehensive survey of national standards; (iii) in-depth interviews conducted with the initiative’s High-Level Panel members and with additional judges and jurists globally; and (iv) early work in the Southern African region from whence the project originated with the support of IFIT’s Zimbabwe Resource Group. Starting in July 2023, a first draft of the Guidelines was the centrepiece of an expert consultation and feedback process with 100+ leading global and regional legal and judicial institutions, associations and networks. In early 2024, an updated version of the Guidelines passed through a second phase of global consultation and feedback, culminating in a high-level judicial and legal summit held at Constitution Hill in Johannesburg, South Africa in May 2024.