Judicial Leadership Suffers When Judges Pretend To Be Perfect : CJI Surya Kant

Chief Justice of India Surya Kant on Friday underscored that “judicial leadership suffers when judges pretend to be perfect,” urging members of the global judicial community to embrace humility and continuous learning as foundational principles of judicial office.

Delivering special remarks at the Opening Ceremony of the 11th Biennial Meeting of Commonwealth Judicial Educators in New Delhi, the Chief Justice said the idea of judges as “finished products” was flattering but ultimately harmful to the institution.

“For too long, we have been comfortable with a view of judges as figures that emerge from appointment already complete, already formed, already perfected,” he observed. “Judicial leadership does not suffer because judges are imperfect; it suffers when we pretend they are not.”

"It naturally follows that to educate for judicial leadership, we must first accept a more honest premise: that judges, like the institutions they lead, remain capable of growth, correction, and improvement," CJI said.

A Call For Humility In Judicial Office

Opening the conference themed “Educating for Judicial Leadership,” CJI Surya Kant invoked the ancient Indian maxim from the Upanishads, “Vidya dadāti vinayam” meaning true learning gives rise to humility.

He said the most respected judicial leaders in history were not those who projected flawlessness, but those who remained conscious of the limits of their knowledge and open to correction.

“Humility,” he noted, “has never been a personal virtue alone; it has been a professional safeguard. And I believe this important tool must be taught to every judicial officer, without exception.”

According to the Chief Justice, gatherings such as the Commonwealth meeting allow judicial systems to “pause and think aloud about themselves,” creating space for reflection that may not yield immediate reforms but gradually reshape institutions by altering perspectives.

Expanding on the conference theme, CJI Surya Kant said educating for judicial leadership requires first accepting an honest premise: judges, like the institutions they lead, remain capable of growth, correction, and improvement.

He described the work of the Commonwealth Judicial Education Institute as legacy-building, moulding judges into “wise custodians of justice” equipped to navigate moral and technical challenges in a world in flux.

Across the Commonwealth, he noted, judiciaries operate under varying conditions of stability, transition, and social strain. In such diversity, peer learning and structured dialogue become indispensable.

He said that CJEI was not conceived as a ceremonial body, nor as a platform for one-directional instruction. Since its inception, it has served as a connective tissue— linking judicial educators, encouraging peer learning, and enabling jurisdictions to learn from one another without erasing their distinct contexts.

"I saw this most clearly in Halifax in 2014, and when I attended the meeting of Chief Patrons in Malta last year," he recalled.

Proposal For A Commonwealth Apex Body

In a significant suggestion, the Chief Justice proposed deeper integration among key Commonwealth legal bodies.

He called for consideration of a “Commonwealth Apex Body” in structured association with the Commonwealth Lawyers Association, the Commonwealth Legal Education Association, and the Commonwealth Magistrates' and Judges' Association.

Such a framework, he said, would not dilute the identity of existing institutions but align their strengths, allowing doctrine, education, and practice to inform one another in a sustained manner.

He also stressed the need to renew these institutions by consciously inducting younger voices into leadership and programming to make the Commonwealth's judicial architecture “truly future-ready.”

Referring to the conference agenda, the Chief Justice said discussions would span engagement with technology and artificial intelligence, environmental justice, safeguarding integrity and public trust, judicial well-being, and the craft of judgment writing.

“The law is a living, breathing entity that evolves with the world around it,” he said, emphasising that judges must combine mastery of precedent with agility to interpret the law in ways that serve justice in contemporary times.

He concluded by urging participants to engage not merely as attendees but as contributors to a shared institutional memory, describing mutual learning as “the lifeblood of judicial growth.”

Judges from Australia, Canada, Guyana, India, Jamaica, Kenya, Malawi, Malaysia, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Trinidad and Tobago and Turks and Caicos Islands are participating in the conference.