The Lord Chief Justice, Lord Judge has paid tribute to judicial independence as scandal embroils press, politicians and police
Addressing the Lord Mayor’s Dinner for HM judges, Lord Judge said this year had seen an increase in the number of critical attacks on individual judges simply for “applying the law as they find it to be”.
This was because judges were independent, he said. “If ever we decided cases on the basis of what someone else wanted the law or the result to be, we would have forfeited the very principle of independence for which judges in this country stand.”
Referring to the phone hacking scandal, he said “there would not have been any crisis but for public revulsion at the breaches of confidentiality involving the victims of crime and war. And now, notwithstanding the constant criticism of judges public revulsion has led to the public demand for a judge led inquiry”.
