Slovo of the National School of Judges of Ukraine. №1(54) 2026. P.40-49

ISSN: 2707-6849        

UDC347.9:343.352:17

DOI https://doi.org/10.37566/2707-6849-2026-1(54)-4

PDF

Vitalii PYSMENNYI,

Professor of the Department of Economics and Finance Ternopil Ivan Puluj National Technical University, Doctor of Economic Sciences, Docent

ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7852-3627

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Preventing corruption risks in the judiciary through the lens of biblical morality and contemporary ethical standards

      Abstract 

The article offers a comprehensive interpretation of counteracting corruption risks in the judiciary through the integration of biblical moral principles and contemporary ethical standards of judicial conduct. It substantiates an approach according to which law, ethics, and morality do not operate in competition but instead form a complementary system of restraints and normative guidelines capable of reducing corruption risks within judicial systems.

Biblical texts are interpreted as a source of a normative understanding of the court as a morally responsible institution, within which bribery is regarded as a distortion of truth and a substitution of justice with personal gain. By contrast, international ethical standards of judicial conduct are presented as an institutional form of codifying these moral intuitions, providing mechanisms of professional self-restraint, sustaining public trust, and ensuring the predictability of behavioral expectations in a secular legal order.

Particular attention is paid to the Ukrainian context, where there is a pronounced need to move beyond the formal reproduction of ethical norms toward the formation of a stable professional culture of integrity. The article emphasizes the role of institutional mechanisms designed to ensure the inevitability of disciplinary responses and the transparency of criteria for assessing ethical conduct, thereby transforming disciplinary practice from a punitive instrument into a regulatory one.

Keywords: corruption risks, judiciary, judicial ethics, integrity, bribery, biblical morality.

References

1. Arnaudovska A. Understanding and combating judicial corruption. Journal of Liberty and International Affairs. 2018. Vol. 4 (1). P. 115–125. https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:0168-ssoar-58141-7.  URL: https://d-nb.info/1192204549/34 (accessed: 09.04.2026).

2. Asrun A. M. Judicial corruption as a violation of professional ethics. International Journal of Professional Business Review. 2023. Vol. 8 (2). DOI: https://doi.org/10.26668/businessreview/2023.v8i2.1125. URL: https://openaccessojs.com/JBReview/article/view/1125/450 (accessed: 09.04.2026).

3. Braswell M. C., McCarthy B. R., McCarthy B. J. Justice, crime, and ethics. New York: Routledge, 2017. 432 p.

4. Gneezy U., Saccardo S., van Veldhuizen R. Bribery: Behavioral drivers of distorted decisions. Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association. 2019. Vol. 17 (3). P. 917–946. URL: https://rady.ucsd.edu/_files/faculty-research/uri-gneezy/Bribery%20Behavioral%20drivers%20of%20distorted%20decisions.pdf (accessed: 09.04.2026).

5. Bible or the Books of Holy Scripture of the Old and New Testaments / Translated by Prof. I. Ohienko. Kyiv: Ukrainian Bible Society, 2009. 1152 p. (in Ukr.).

6. Bangalore Principles of Judicial Conduct. United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 2002. 15 p. URL: https://www.unodc.org/pdf/crime/corruption/judicial_group/Bangalore_principles.pdf (accessed: 09.04.2026).

7. Opinion No. 3 (2002) of the Consultative Council of European Judges (CCJE) on the principles and rules governing judges’ professional conduct. Strasbourg: Council of Europe, 2002. URL: https://rm.coe.int/168070098d (accessed: 09.04.2026).

8. Code of Judicial Ethics: adopted by the XI Regular Congress of Judges of Ukraine on 22 February 2013. Available at: https://court.gov.ua/userfiles/Kodex%20sud%20etiki(1).pdf (accessed: 09.04.2026) (in Ukr.). 

Suggested  Citation: Pysmennyi V. (2026) Preventing corruption risks in the judiciary through the lens of biblical morality and contemporary ethical standards. Slovo National School of Judges of Ukraine, 1 (54), 40–49. https://doi.org/10.37566/2707-6849-2026-1(54)-4 

Date of first submission of the article to the publication: 09.02.2026

Date of acceptance of the article for publication after review: 13.04.2026

Date of publication (publication): 22.04.2026