Dear fellow members of the Navajo Nation Bar Association: One of the most important functions members of the NNBA provide to the Navajo system of justice is ensuring that the Judiciary, the Navajo Nation Council, and the public at large receive our input on the quality of the judges who serve the Navajo Nation. We are the only group outside the Judiciary able to speak on the subject based on first hand experience. Others hear rumors or stories, or perhaps have a day in court, but no other group consistently, on a daily basis, sees first hand how judges perform.

Judicial evaluation is particularly important on the Navajo Nation because once a judge completes the probationary period and obtains permanent status, the judge the public and legal practitioners have only limited options for identifying and working to correct any problems with the judge’s performance. Permanent status is an important procedure for maintaining judicial independence. And judicial independence is key to the ability of judges to rule based on the law without worry of political consequences. But judges must also be aware of the way they treat participants in the system, be informed of the perception others have of their work, and be told of ways in which they can improve the quality of their work.

To give judges this information, the NNBA, working together with the Judicial Branch of the Navajo Nation, asks bar members to evaluate each of the Navajo Nation Justices and Judges. We are pleased that this year, for the first time, this evaluation will be conducted on line. The results of these evaluations are used in three ways. They are used by the Chief Justice and Judicial Branch in their evaluation process. They are used by individual judges as an aid in improving their service as a judge. And finally, they are provided to the Judiciary Committee of the Navajo Nation Council.