Advantages of Judicial Independence (SA P1)

Question 1

P1

Answer 1

• P) Protecting individuals
• E) Belmarsh Detainees Case 2004
• C) Difficulty to address insufficiencies

Question 2

P2

Answer 2

• P) Impartial judicial review
• E) Miller V Prime Minister 2019
• C) Insufficient accountability

Question 3

P3

Answer 3

• P) Fairness and public confidence
• E) Re Pinochet 1998
• C) Resistance to change

Question 4

P4

Answer 4

• P) Appointed independently
• C) Difficulty in achieving judicial diversity

Question 5

Protecting individuals

Answer 5

• From abuse of power by government
• Rule of law means no one is above the law and can be punished without trial
• Otherwise an opponent of the government could be imprisoned without reasonable cause

Question 6

Belmarsh Detainees Case

Answer 6

• 2004
• Supreme court declared elements of the Anti Crime, Terrorism and Security Act 2001 were incompatible with human rights law

Question 7

Difficulty to address insufficiencies

Answer 7

• Due to autonomous nature of the judiciary
• May be more difficult for outside stakeholders to bring about needed reforms or improvements to outdated procedures or practices

Question 8

Impartial judicial review

Answer 8

• To ensure ministers are acting in accordance with law
• Ensures judges are free to reach decisions which may be politically unpopular without fear of sanction
• Judiciary held gov to account in Brexit process

Question 9

Miller V Prime Minister

Answer 9

• 2019
• Supreme court held the Prime Ministers conduct was unlawful, had effect of preventing scrutiny by parliament ahead of leaving the EU

Question 10

Insufficient accountability

Answer 10

• Excessive independence leads to lack of accountability
• Judges entirely shielded from public scrutiny or oversight may be more prone to judicial misconduct/corruption

Question 11

Fairness

Answer 11

• Public confidence in judiciary
• Vital that each judge is able to decide cases solely on evidence presented in court and in accordance with the law
• Must be free from interference from litigants, the state, the media etc

Question 12

Re Pinochet

Answer 12

• 1998
• A man must not be a judge in own case
• Lord Hoffman closely associated with one of the parties, disqualified from hearing the case whether or not there was any actual bias

Question 13

Resistance to change

Answer 13

• Resistance to change/modernisation within legal system
• As judiciary operates independently from other branches of gov, might resist adapting to evolving societal norms and expectations

Question 14

Appointed independently of gov

Answer 14

• Selection based solely on merit
• Improves transparency in ways judges are selected, addresses concerns that system had been open to political bias
• Helps judiciary become increasingly diverse
• Once in office, senior judges can only be dismissed with great difficulty

Question 15

Difficulty in achieving judicial diversity

Answer 15

• Independent judiciary may limit scope for outside actors to promote diversity among judges
• Makes it more difficult to ensure the judicially adequately reflects the demographic composition of society