The politics of judicial independence in the UK's changing constitution / Graham Gee, University of Birmingham ; Robert Hazell, University College London ; Kate Malleson, Queen Mary, University of London ; Patrick O'Brien, London School of Economics and Political Science.

""This book is the product of a three-year research project carried out between 2011 and 2013, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AH/H039554/1)"--Introduction.

"Judicial independence is generally understood as requiring that judges must be insulated from political life. The central claim of this work is that far from standing apart from the political realm, judicial independence is a product of it. It is defined and protected through interactions between judges and politicians. In short, judicial independence is a political achievement. This is the main conclusion of a three-year research project on the major changes introduced by the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, and the consequences for judicial independence and accountability. The authors interviewed over 150 judges, politicians, civil servants and practitioners to understand the day-to-day processes of negotiation and interaction between politicians and judges. They conclude that the greatest threat to judicial independence in future may lie not from politicians actively seeking to undermine the courts, but rather from their increasing disengagement from the justice system and the judiciary"-- Provided by publisher.

"This book is the product of a three-year research project carried out between 2011 and 2013, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AH/H039554/1). The project set out to explore the implications for judicial independence and judicial accountability of the profound constitutional changes which have taken place in the UK in recent years. To enable us to understand the full impact of those changes, which are still working their way through the system, we interviewed over 150 people. These included judges, government ministers, parliamentarians, senior civil servants in the Ministry of Justice and other parts of Whitehall, officials in Parliament, the Courts Service and the Judicial Appointments Commission, plus a similar range of people in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Most of the interviews were carried out on the basis of anonymity and so we cannot name them here; but we are immensely grateful to them for their time and trouble, and for subsequently commenting on our chapters in draft. One person we can name is Lord Judge, who as Lord Chief Justice generously gave us a great deal of his time and encouraged his colleagues to do likewise"-- Provided by publisher.

1. Introduction -- 2. The politics of judicial independence and accountability -- 3. The new Lord Chancellors and the Executive -- 4. The courts service, salaries and pensions -- 5. Relations between judges and Parliament -- 6. Judicial leadership and the internal governance of the judiciary -- 7. Judicial appointments -- 8. The UK Supreme Court -- 9. Scotland and Northern Ireland -- 10. Conclusion.

English.

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