Judicial Ethics for a Global Judiciary – How Judicial Networks Create their own Codes of Conduct

It is not a new insight that nowadays everything and everybody seems to be globalized. This is even true with respect to the different branches of the state. We know a lot about the globalization of the executive branch and administrative law (towards a global or international administrative law) for example. Public agencies around the world are compelled to cooperate – e.g. to change information and work together on legal cases – because many problems can only be solved by a cross-border approach. The legislative branch faces the deep influence of globalization, too. National lawmakers have to respect or transform standards and rules set by international organizations such as the WTO, NAFTA or the EU. In the EU, for example, 70–80% of national legislation in the field of economic law is based on rules set by the EU. Furthermore, the question arises whether the judiciary is also remarkably influenced by globalization. Is the judicial branch, or more precisely in the international context, the national and international judiciary, yet globalized? What role does the judge play in the context of globalization?