Chapter 4 • Independence and Impartiality of Judges, Prosecutors and Lawyers 4.4.4 Jurisdictional competence According to Principle 3 of the Basic Principles, the independent decision-making power of the Judiciary also comprises “jurisdiction over all issues of a judicial nature and ... exclusive authority to decide whether an issue submitted for its decision is within its competence as defined by law”.16 This rule of judicial autonomy in the determination of questions of competence is in fact well established at both national and international levels and can also be found, for instance, in article 36(6) of the Statute of the International Court of Justice, and, as regards the European Court of Human Rights, in article 32(2) of the European Convention on Human Rights. 4.4.5 The right and duty to ensure fair court proceedings and give reasoned decisions This issue will be dealt with in subsection 4.5.8 below. The notion of independence of the Judiciary means, in particular, that: l the Judiciary must enjoy institutional independence, in that it must be independent of the other branches of government, namely, the Executive and Parliament; l the Judiciary must be independent as to internal matters of judicial administration, including the assignment of cases to judges within the court to which they belong; l the Judiciary must have independence in financial matters and have sufficient funds to perform their functions efficiently; l the Judiciary must be independent as to decision-making: both the Government and other institutions have the duty to respect and observe the decisions handed down by the Judiciary; l the Judiciary must have jurisdictional competence, which means that there must be judicial autonomy in the determination of questions of competence; l the Judiciary has both the right and the duty to ensure fair court proceedings and issue reasoned decisions. 16 Recommendation No. R (94) 12 of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe provides that “no organ other than the courts themselves should decide on its own competence, as defined by law” (Principle I.2.a.iii). 122 Human Rights in the Administration of Justice: A Manual on Human Rights for Judges, Prosecutors and Lawyers