Judiciary

• S. the judiciary oath demonstrates their commitment to presiding over a fair and legal system


  by swearing to act on behalf of King and country they are promising to put justice first, and not their own careers. by swearing to make judgements 'without fear or favour' they are ensuring that no threats or bribery can interfere with justice
• S. independent from government


  work separately to avoid biases
• W. potential for bias due to the social background of judges - predominantly white, male and middle class


  any bias in judgements and sentencing leads to a failure to achieve true justice, and therefore the role of the judiciary in social control is undermined. people will lose confidence in the judiciary to do their job
• W. too lenient when sentencing offenders


  can give sentences that are too lenient, allows offenders to possibly believe they got off lightly.

  have unduly lenient sentencing scheme for when this does occur
• W. evidence of gender bias

  clearly evident in some cases

  women and ethnic minorities are affected

  • also underrepresented