Skills of Judges
Communication Skills: Judges should be able to explain the law in layman's terms and possess the ability to communicate with people on all levels.
Critical-reasoning Skills: Judges, mediators, and hearing officers must apply rules of law. They cannot let their own personal assumptions interfere with the proceedings.
Decision-making Skills: Judges, mediators, and hearing officers must be able to weigh the facts, apply the law or rules, and make a decision relatively quickly.
Listening Skills: Judges, mediators, and hearing officers must pay close attention to what is being said in order to evaluate information.
Reading Comprehension: Judges, mediators, and hearing officers must be able to evaluate and distinguish the important facts from large amounts of complex information.
Writing Skills: Judges, mediators, and hearing officers write recommendations or decisions on appeals or disputes. They must be able to write their decisions clearly so that all sides understand the decision.