This detailed essay plan describes with many modern day examples the extent to which the neutrality of the UK judiciary is maintained in the face of influence from the government and general public
How is judicial neutrality maintained?
Judges are appointed by an independent committee (the Judicial Appointments
Commission), which doesn’t have any political leanings, therefore choosing judges for their
merit rather than their political beliefs. This means that the purpose of judges being
appointed is not that they will make certain decision, but that they will be able to make the
right decision whatever it is
Because judge are unelected, they don’t have any obligation to fulfil a manifesto by
prioritising certain ideologies and policies, they must only make decisions based on legality,
not preference
Judges have a strict set of rules to follow, e.g., they can only oppose an Act of Parliament if it
is proven to be unconstitutional – they had to oppose the Chindamo deportation case
because it went against Article 8 of the Human Rights Act, the right to a private and family
life – the only way judges can oppose Parliament’s decisions is if they have legal justification
for doing so
It is against the ministerial code for an MP to publicly try to influence judicial proceedings.
This helps to safeguard judicial neutrality, as it means that judges cannot feel threatened
with political action if they make a certain decision
The relative anonymity of senior judges – judges have traditionally operated away from the
public eye. Until recently, judges rarely spoke out publicly on issues of law or public policy,
and senior judges are still expected to avoid being drawn into open defence of their rulings,
or criticism of those in government
Restriction on political activity – As with many senior civil servants, judges are not supposed
to campaign on behalf of a political party or pressure group. Although judges retain the right
to vote, their political views or outlook should not become a matter of public record
High-level training – judges are part of a highly trained profession, regulated by the Law
Society. Senior judges have commonly served for many years as barristers before taking to
the bench, and their elevation to the higher ranks of the judiciary would normally reflect a
belief that they are able to put any personal bias they might hold to one side when
administering justice. Although the security of tenure enjoyed by senior judges makes it
difficult to remove those whose neutrality is open to question, additional guidance and
training can be required in such cases, and individual judges might also be moved away from
more serious cases while their performance is monitored
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