judges can protect citzens from abuse of power (judical indepdenace)
they are required to be impartial
improved in its diversity
judges considered legal experts
p- to be a judge must be a qualifiedlawyer for minimum of 5 years- usually longer
e- 95% of superiorcourt judges were barristers before and were practicing for decades
e- good complex, delicate cases are handled with the most expernece and knowledge
l- leads to just and right outcomes and more informeddecisions in court
c- however to be a judge you need to be in practice for a long time, many of them are old so out of touch
2. judges can protect citzens from abuse of power
p- they have judicialindependence whcih freedom gives them the power to perform judicialreview where they can review and go against decisions made by judges w/o fear of consequences
e- in miller v uk the supreme court decided that the primeministerunlawfullysuspendedparliament which protected public as meant that parliament was able to scrutinise the brexit deal
e- shows taht executive can be hold to an account and interfere where citizens can be subject to unfair laws
c- however thsi judicial review may be wavered by government influence as parliament set retirement and pension rules of judges
3. judges required t be impartial
p- must have no connection to case at all, maintains judicialindependence where tehy can make decisions soley the case independantly
e- Rpinocetcase- retried as lordhoffman was director of the prosecuting party
e- shows that decisions are free of influence and they are made fair and just
c- can be risk of bias cause of lack of diversity
4. improved in its diversity
p- traditionally only white, male, upper/middle class
e- 10% increase in female judges. 3% incraese in BAME judges
e- moving towards judiciary that refelctssociety and reduces biases
c- still disproportionate amount of older, white men
disadvantages
general age of judiciary
lack of diversity, bame judges
lack of gender quality, female judges
question over judicialindependence
p- The general older age of judiciary
Many of them are old as practiced to be superior judges requires them to be lawyers first usually around decades
e- 70% of judges are over 50
e- A problem with this is judges may be out of touch
With current issues which Can ead to unjust or unsatisfactory results
c- But the amount of experience they have makes them legalexperts
p- A problem is lack of diversity, low bame judges
Judiciary manly old, white, upper middle class males from similar socioeconomic backgrounds
e- 10% of all judges were from bame backgrounds in 2022
e- A problem because judges may lack understanding of cultural issues- there is also an issues of social mobility
c- But this has improved over the last few years with a 3% increase
p- Lack of gender equality, low number of female judges
Usually upper- middle class old white men where when appointing judges this usually goes to a man
e- 35% of all judges in 2022 are female
e- Judges may lack understanding of genderbased issues
c- Howewer this has improved over the last few years- 10% increase
p- Question over whether judges truly have judicial independence
These are the ways for the executive and legislature to influence a judge- not directly
E.g parliament are able to change the law on how judges are qualified, appointed, pension rules and retirement
A problem because there is an indiretincentive for judges to keep parliamenthappy
However they are measures to ensure independence such as paid by an independent body