Judge is a legal term used to describe a person with the ultimate authority in settling a dispute in accordance with law. In the United States, judges make a variety of rulings including administrative hearings, workers compensation, civil rights, immigration determinations and more. Judges also oversee trial procedures and ensure fairness, consistency, and impartiality in the judicial process. Judges exercise significant governmental power and can order police, military, or judicial officials to carry out searches, arrests, imprisonments, garnishments, seizures, deportations and other similar actions. They are traditionally addressed to as “Your Honor” or, in Brazil, as either “Vossa Excelencia” or “Ministro” (male and female forms of “minister”).
Many researchers have theorized that good judges possess personality traits related to social skill and agreeableness and exhibit behaviors that are likely to make their interaction partners feel comfortable and willing to reveal information that helps facilitate accurate judgments. The ability of judges to detect relevant personality cues, analyze that information, and appropriately utilize it is often referred to as the Realistic Accuracy Model (Funder, 1995).
One of the most important traits that a good judge should have is integrity. This goes far beyond adherence to the letter of the law; it includes an ethical desire to treat individuals with respect and dignity. The best judges are honest, but they also show compassion for those who appear before them — whether it’s victims of crime or those accused of offenses. They don’t promote racism, sexism, or religious or anti-religious bigotry on the bench or outside it.
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