Editing Judge (section)

==Powers and functions==
The ultimate task of a judge is to settle a legal dispute in a final and publicly lawful manner in agreement with substantial partialities. Judges exercise significant governmental power. They can order police, military or judicial officials to execute searches, arrests, imprisonments, garnishments, detainment, seizures, deportations and similar actions. However, judges also supervise that trial procedures are followed, in order to ensure consistency and impartiality and avoid arbitrariness. The powers of a judge are checked by higher courts such as appeals courts and supreme courts.

The court usually has three main legally trained court officials: the judge, the prosecutor and the defence attorney. The role of a judge can vary between legal systems. In an [[adversarial system]] (common law), as in effect in the U.S. and England, the judge functions as an impartial referee, mainly ensuring correct procedure, while the prosecution and the defense present their case to a [[jury]], often selected from common citizens. The main factfinder is the jury, and the judge will then finalize sentencing. Nevertheless, in smaller cases judges can issue [[summary judgment]]s without proceeding to a jury trial. In an [[inquisitorial system]] (civil law), as in effect in continental Europe, there is no jury and the main factfinder is the judge, who will do the presiding, judging and sentencing on their own. As such, the judge is expected to apply the law directly, as in the French expression ''Le juge est la bouche de la loi'' ("The judge is the mouth of the law"). Furthermore, in some systems even investigations may be conducted by the judge, functioning as an examining magistrate.

Judges may work alone in smaller cases, but in criminal, family and other significant cases, they work in a panel. In some civil law systems, this panel may include [[lay judge]]s. Unlike professional judges, lay judges are not legally trained, but unlike jurors, lay judges are usually volunteers and may be politically appointed. Judges are often assisted by [[law clerk]]s, [[Referendary|referendaries]] and notaries in legal cases and by [[bailiff]]s or similar with security.

===Requirements and appointment===
There are both volunteer and professional judges. A volunteer judge, such as an English [[Magistrate (England and Wales)|magistrate]], is not required to have legal training and is unpaid. Whereas, a professional judge is required to be [[Legal education|legally educated]]; in the U.S., this generally requires a degree of [[Juris Doctor]]. Furthermore, significant professional experience is often required; for example, in the U.S., judges are often appointed from experienced [[Attorney at law|attorney]]s. Judges are often appointed by the [[head of state]]. However in some jurisdictions, judges are elected in a political election.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kritzer |first=Herbert |url=https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009425476 |title=Litigating Judicial Selection |date=2024 |publisher=Cambridge University Press|doi=10.1017/9781009425476 |isbn=978-1-009-42547-6 }}</ref>

Impartiality is often considered important for [[rule of law]]. Thus, in many jurisdictions judges may be appointed for life, so that they cannot be removed by the executive. However, in non-democratic systems, the appointment of judges may be highly politicized and they often receive instructions on how to judge, and may be removed if their conduct does not please the political leadership.

===Judge as an occupation===
Judges must be able to research and process extensive lengths of documents, witness testimonies, and other case material, understand complex cases and possess a thorough understanding of the law and legal procedure, which requires excellent skills in logical reasoning, analysis and decision-making. Excellent writing skills are also a necessity, given the finality and authority of the documents written. Judges work with people all the time; by the nature of the job, good dispute resolution and interpersonal skills are a necessity.<ref name="thebalance" /> Judges are required to have [[good moral character]], i.e. there must be no history of crime. Professional judges often enjoy a high salary, in the U.S. the median salary of judges is $101,690 per annum,<ref name="thebalance">{{cite web|url=https://www.thebalance.com/judge-job-description-career-profile-2164303|title=What Does It Take to Be a Judge? Job Description and Career Profile|website=thebalance.com|access-date=18 March 2018|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170930131934/https://www.thebalance.com/judge-job-description-career-profile-2164303|archive-date=30 September 2017}}</ref> and federal judges earn $208,000–$267,000 per annum.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.uscourts.gov/judges-judgeships/judicial-compensation|title=Judicial Compensation|work=United States Courts|access-date=2018-08-20|language=en}}</ref>

===Gender effects===
In many [[Civil law (legal system)|civil law]] countries in Europe the majority of judges are women: in 6 countries ([[Slovenia]], [[Serbia]], [[Latvia]], [[Luxembourg]], [[Greece]] and [[Hungary]]) women make more that 70% of judges of the first instance. In contrast, in [[common law]] countries ([[UK]], [[Ireland]], [[Malta]] and the United States) the situation is reverse: over 70% of judges of the first instance are men.<ref name="Bench 2020">Clearing the Bench: Using Mandatory Retirement to Promote Gender Parity in the U.S. and the EU Judiciaries. 2020. C.C. Goodma</ref>

On the other hand, women are underrepresented in the Supreme Courts in the USA and all EU countries, except for Romania (in Romanian [[High Court of Cassation and Justice]] over 80% of judges are women).<ref name="Bench 2020"/>

===Age and retirement===
In the United States, federal judges are appointed "for good behavior", which means in practice, that federal judges work until they die, voluntarily retire or are impeached.<ref>Douglas Keith, Impeachment and Removal of Judges: An Explainer, BRENNAN CTR. FOR JUST. (Mar. 23, 2018), https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/impeachment-and-removal-judges-explainer</ref> The death of [[Ruth Bader Ginsburg]] in the office in 2020 and suspension of [[Pauline Newman]] in 2023 reinvigorated the discussion about mandatory retirement age for federal judges, but such change would require a [[constitutional amendment]] and is unlikely to be implemented soon.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/09/supreme-court-retirement-age/616458/ | title=No Other Western Democracy Allows This | website=[[The Atlantic]] | date=25 September 2020 }}</ref>

States have more flexibility in establishing a mandatory retirement age for judges, as was confirmed by the [[SCOTUS]] in its 1991 decision [[Gregory v. Ashcroft]]. As of 2015, 33 States and the District of Columbia had mandatory retirement ages for State court judges, which ranged from 70 to 75 for most (but is as high as 90 in [[Vermont]]).<ref>William E. Raftery, Increasing or Repealing Mandatory Judicial Retirement Ages, NAT’L CTR. FOR STATE CTS., https://www.ncsc.org/sitecore/content/microsites/{{Dead link|date=January 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
trends/home/monthly-trends-articles/2016/increasing-or-repealing-mandatory-judicialretirement-ages.aspx (last visited Feb. 27, 2020).</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.governing.com/assessments/when-it-comes-to-judges-how-old-is-too-old.html | title=When It Comes to Judges, How Old is Too Old? | date=22 January 2021 }}</ref>

A 2020 study by the [[National Bureau of Economic Research]] found significant positive effects on the performance of state Supreme Courts with mandatory retirement age for judges. The authors advocated the adoption of mandatory retirement ages for all federal and state judges, although they felt, that the individual authorities should decide on the specific age for themselves.<ref>Mandatory Retirement for Judges Improved Performance on U.S. State Supreme Courts. 2020. E. Ash, W.B. Macleod. doi: 10.3386/w28025.</ref>