The Independence of the Judiciary: The View from the Lord Chancellor's Office

This modern study of the independence of the judiciary in England utilizes the perceptions of the Lord Chancellor's Office to provide a fresh examination of the importance of this concept in British constitutional law and politics. Working from the records of the Lord Chancellor's Office, the author discusses a number of issues: the appointment of judges and the attempt to remove them; the disciplining of judges; their role in the Courts; their executive responsibilities, and the role of English judges in the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. This important work also examines the battles within and around the judiciary in the past thirty years, and places them in the broader context of the separation of powers, the legal system, and the politics of the period.