UCL Laws has launched the Judicial Institute, the UK’s first research centre focusing on the judiciary. The Institute will look at how judges are appointed, how they reach decisions, the operation of the courts and the relationship between the judiciary and other social institutions and branches of government.
Cheryl Thomas, UCL professor of judicial studies, said: “Today, there isn’t a single important social issue in our society that judges at some point aren’t asked to adjudicate.
Yet in the UK the academic community has not really addressed the reality of judging or served the judiciary well with robust empirical research on the judicial process. The UCL Judicial institute has been established to rectify this.”