Primus inter pares – Leading panels of judges

theme No.: 35a
responsible federal state: North Rhine-Westphalia
date: 19.11.2023 - 24.11.2023

The seminar addresses presiding judges of all courts.
Leading panels of judges, which are staffed with independent judges, is an extraordinary challenge. It is not enshrined hierarchically. It cannot be reverted to official sanctions. Additionally, presiding judges of panels regularly lack disciplinary and personnel legal competences towards non-judicial court staff.
Nevertheless, presiding judges bear the responsibility to delegate tasks to judges within the panel as well as non-judicial court staff and motivate them to achieve the common aim.
Therefore, a special form of leadership is necessary which can be called lateral leading. It especially needs a sustainable relationship within the panel of judges. The necessary trust is grounded on appreciation, empathy as well as transparency and authenticity of own acting, which is primarily conveyed through accordingly arranged interaction.
Based on this background the following thematic focuses will be:

• designing and organizing work processes
• communication and conversation culture within the panel
• relationship arrangement and motivation
• handling internal conflicts.

Besides keynote speeches, collegial exchange and reflecting on own (leading) behaviour will be foregrounded. The conveyed contents can be trained in role-plays with practical examples.
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