International conference "Strengthening the Rule of Law and Increasing Public Confidence in Administration of Justice " is being held on March 22, 2023. The Supreme Court of Mongolia, the Judicial General Council, the Judicial Disciplinary Committee, the European Union Delegation to Mongolia, Canada's Federal Court Commissioner's Office, Canadian international organizations, and representatives of the capital's primary and appellate courts and lawyers are participating in the international conference.
At the opening of the international conference, the President's Legal Policy Adviser A. Byambajargal delivered a message from the President of Mongolia. Also, J. Sukhbaatar, Member of Parliament and Minister of Mongolia, in his speech, reminded us to activate our activities to ensure the transparency and openness stipulated in the Law on Courts. Chair of the Judicial General Council, R. Ononchimeg, Chair of the Judicial Disciplinary Committee, Kh. Khashbaatar, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Canada to Mongolia, Ambassadors of Canada Ms. Catherine Ivkoff and European Union Ms. Axelle Nicaise, addressed participants of the international conference.
D.Munkhtuya, Presiding Justice of the Administrative Case Chamber of the Supreme Court of Mongolia, delivered keynote speech on “Public Trust in Courts and Judge” during the conference and emphasized the importance of effective communication by judges in distributing court decision in a comprehensible manner to the public.
D. Zumberelkham, a member of the Judicial General Council, Doctor of Jurisprudence, presented stages of judicial reform and unified policy on introducing information technology, court services, and new forms of management into the court during his speech on “Judicial Reform and Public Trust in the Court”.
Marc Richard, Chief Justice of the Court of Appeal of the State of New Brunswick, Canada, noted during his speech on "The Rule of Law and Public Confidence in the Courts as Necessary Conditions for Social Stability: Judicial Independence, Ethics and Accountability" that increasing public trust in the courts would ensure social stability and emphasized the importance of judicial impartiality and ethical responsibility.
Members of the Judicial Disciplinary Committee, consultants and researchers of international organizations discussed the disciplinary responsibility and ethics of judges. For example, Maria Giuliana Civinini, former head of the Criminal Chamber of the Italian court of Liverno, consultant of the TAIEX program, discussed the role of judges' ethics in preventing disciplinary violations through training and work performance evaluation, and O. Nomuulin, a member of the Judicial Disciplinary Committee, discussed the role of judges' ethics in increasing public confidence in the court. A. Byambajargal, Legal Policy Adviser to the President of Mongolia, D. Davharbayar, a member of the Judicial Discipline Committee, and P. Badamragchaa, Manager of the Legal Program of the Open Society Forum led panel discussion on the topic of "Judge Ethics and Discipline and Increasing Public Confidence in the Court" and the participants of the conference expressed their position.
B. Undrakh, a member of the General Council of the Court, moderated a panel session on the topic of communicating with the public and reporting court decisions. A. Otgontsetseg, a member of the Judicial General Council presented that "90.1 percent of the participants in all cases decided by the court in 2022 did not file a complaint against the decision of the first instance court" and emphasized the importance of communicating the court's decision in a simple, concise and comprehensible manner during her speech on "Court's communication with the public". She also introduced concept of a draft policy document "Court Public Relations Program" aimed to improving the transparency and openness of the courts. Mary Moreau, Chief Justice of the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench, Canada, shared her country's experience in using communication tools and social media to inform the public. Director of the Press Institute M. Munkhmandah emphasized the importance of developing court journalism and disseminating information from official sources to the public in his speech "Court Media Relations and Journalism Norms".
B.Sugar, member of the Judicial Disciplinary Committee, P. Odgerel, President of the Lawyers' Association, G. Ulsbold, the editor of the "time.mn" news site, and Z. Sukhbaatar, member of the Bar Association's Board of Directors spoke on the topic of "Strengthening relations with the media, civil society, and the public" and participants of the meeting expressed their views during the panel discussion.