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The Importance Of Judicial Independence

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Judicial independence - what does it take to trust a judge?

The separation of powers is a political doctrine which has largely been attributed to Charles de Montesquieu (1689-1755) who identified three main functions of government: The Making of laws, the execution of laws and the resolving of disputes according to the law. Correspondingly, he identified there should be three organs of the state to carry out these functions: The Legislature, the Executive and the Judiciary, each organ should be kept separate and distinct, to guard against tyranny should too much power become vested in one person or body. Montesquieu also highlighted the importance of an independent Judiciary:

“When the legislative and executive powers are united in the same person, or in the same body of magistrates, there can be no liberty; because apprehensions may arise, lest the same monarch or senate should enact tyrannical laws, to execute them in a tyrannical manner. Again, there is no liberty, if the judiciary power be not separated from the legislative and executive.”

Judicial Independence

Emphasised by Montesquieu as being essential to liberty, the importance of Judicial Independence has been highlighted in many international resolutions such as the ‘UN Basic Principles on the Independence of the Judiciary and the role of lawyers’, endorsed by the UN General Assembly in 1985 and 1990. In Article 6 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms 1950 the

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