Fine for Pennsylvania, but Iraq has standards

By Drew F. Cohen

As legislators in Harrisburg consider moving away from the state's controversial judicial elections and toward merit-based selection of judges, they might turn their attention to an unlikely model: Baghdad.

When the Iraqi judicial structure began to take form shortly after the invasion of Iraq in 2003, the U.S. State Department officials who played a major role in creating the system insisted that no Iraqi judge would be chosen by election. Their concerns included corruption and nepotism, but also competence and legitimacy - the same issues raised in the debate over judicial elections in Pennsylvania.

A recent study by the American Judicature Society found that 60 percent of recent Pennsylvania Supreme Court cases involved a lawyer, law firm, or party that contributed to the campaign of at least one of the justices. Moreover, $4.7 million changed hands in the most recent state Supreme Court campaign, making it the most expensive judicial election in Pennsylvania's history.

In Baghdad, Coalition Provisional Authority officials created the High Judicial Council, a body independent from Iraq's Ministry of Justice, to vet and appoint new judges. To ensure a first-rate judiciary, the council required candidates to possess a law degree, graduate from the Judicial Institute in Baghdad, and undergo at least two years of formal training.

Once selected, Iraqi judges are appointed to a one-year probationary period. Subject to a comprehensive performance review at the end of the first year, they can be confirmed for tenure until the mandatory retirement age of 63.

A recent proposal in Harrisburg by State Sen. Jane Earll (R., Erie) and State Rep. Matthew Smith (D., Allegheny) is strikingly similar to the model already in place in Baghdad. It would create a 14-member independent, nonpartisan panel to screen candidates. Successful applicants would be passed along to the governor, whose choices would require confirmation by the state Senate.

Once approved, judges would serve a four-year trial term, after which retention elections would allow voters to say yes or no to giving them additional terms of 10 years.

During the initial four-year term, Pennsylvania judges should also be subject to performance reviews by the independent panel, as they are in Iraq. Formal training could easily be incorporated into the four-year trial period as well.