Judicial Independence in General and in England and Wales

Abstract

The article concerns judicial independence. It is a fundamental element of the rule of law. A recent disregard for these ancient requirements of democracy in some countries, including some EU Member States, has caused international concern. This chapter explains the following issues:

– important points about the English legal system, especially the criminal courts;

– the radical reforms to the UK’s ancient, unwritten constitution, under the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, remedying defects in the separation of powers and strengthening collective judicial independence;

– the Act’s role in further professionalising judicial recruitment, selection and appointment and enhancing the safeguarding of individual judicial independence. I also explain the international standards for judicial independence;

– the relationship between the three organs of government since the 2005 Act;

– the modernised judicial appointment system and the current diversity statistics. At the end is a very brief section, describing the methods of my own empirical, wide and deep research project on the working lives of judges (2002–2014), which remains unique worldwide.