A virtuous judge; The contribution of virtue theory in the theory of judgment

Judges have both considerable power and discretion in exercising it. Given the power and discretion, the personality of the judge is essential. Especially in hard cases, the "who is the judge" is no less important than the "what is the law". If the law is in the hands of a virtuous judge, it is more likely that his judicial power and discretion will lead to justice and fairness. Therefore the virtue approach to judicial judgment is important. The most important judicial virtues are: lawfulness, legal intelligence, judicial wisdom, courage, temperance, impartiality, independence, incorruptibility, judicial skill, justice, and compassion. An essential advantage of the virtue approach to judicial judgment is that it is compatible with the Islamic jurisprudential tradition. Thus, a rich dialogue can be established between modern virtue theory and the Islamic jurisprudential tradition. In the present article, while outlining the theoretical foundations, the application of the virtue approach in "judicial selection" is examined.