THE BRITISH ACADEMY,
established by Royal Charter in 1902, champions and supports the humanities and social sciences. It is an independent, self-governing fellowship of scholars elected for their distinction and achievement.
|
|
|
Judicial Independence: Who Cares?
This lecture took place on 24 October 2006
Professor Sir Neil MacCormick, QC, FBA, FRSE, LLD, Regius Professor of Public and the Law of nature and Nations in the University of Edinburgh, and Leverhulme Personal Research Professor in Philosophy of Law
Recent months have witnessed a disturbing growth of parliamentary and governmental critique of judicial decisions in individual cases. But perhaps decisions concerning anti-terrorism laws have illegitimately prioritised judicial discretion over the ministerial responsibility for the public safety? Meanwhile, changes in the court structure and the governance of the court systems in Scotland as well as England and Wales are generating new proposals for statutory definitions of the independence of the judiciary, and a statutory framework for exercising it. Is this a fresh bulwark for civil liberty - or just a typical case of a constitutional principle achieving official definition only as a sign that it has become seriously problematic?
|
|
|
