Assignment by lot
No person chooses which judge hears a case. Cases are drawn by a published procedure operating without human intervention upon the order of receipt.
Article 201(1): cases are assigned to judges by lot, by a public procedure operating without human intervention upon the order of receipt.
Article 201(2): the method, the code and the parameters of assignment are public under Article 109(5), the draw is verifiable by any person, and the result is published upon assignment.
Article 201(4): the president of a court, the Judicial Council and any other person may in no case select the judge who is to hear a case, direct a reassignment, or alter the composition of a panel after allocation.
Reassignment
Reassignment after allocation is permitted only for recusal, disqualification, illness, absence or the closure of a division. It requires a written and published order stating the ground, made by a panel of three judges of the court and recorded in the register.
Redistribution of workload between judges is governed as well, by a published rule applying to classes of case, operating prospectively and touching no case already assigned. Article 201(6) voids an assignment made contrary to the article, and the case is drawn afresh.
Verification of the system
| Body | What it examines | Provision |
|---|---|---|
| Judicial Council | Maintains the assignment system | Article 208(1) |
| Judicial Inspectorate | Examines the working of the system, and the content of a decision in no case | Article 214(1) and (6) |
| Audit Office | Audits the operation of the system annually, and publishes the audit in full | Article 215(1) and (2) |
| Data division of the Defender of Rights | Audits the system jointly with the Audit Office, and keeps it on the public register of automated systems | Article 254(4) |
| An independent body designated by organic law | Verifies annually that the draws were conducted as published | Article 215(4) |
The system on the public register
The register of automated systems states, for every system, its purpose, its inputs, its logic and the person accountable for each decision it assists. The assignment system appears there with the order of receipt as its only input, and the registrar of the receiving court named on every assignment order.
A decision producing legal effects upon a person must be taken by a human being who is identified and accountable. An automated system may assist and in no case decide. Assignment allocates a case and decides nothing in it.