Judging the World explores the interaction of law and politics in 16 of the world’s leading courts.
It is constructed from exclusive interviews with more than 40 judges from these courts, which range through Europe, North and South America, Asia and Australasia.
Part One sets the issues and the courts in their legal and political context. It begins by examining judicial power in the United Kingdom and Australia, then moves on to consider what differences exist in countries which have Bills of Rights – the United States, Ireland, India and Canada, and to examine the debate about entrenching rights in the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand. The practices of international courts also offer insight into the fundamental questions surrounding judicial power.
The main themes of the work constantly reappear: how are judges appointed, to what extent do they make law, how do they do it, in what sense is what they do political in nature, what are the differences between judges and politicians, our judges political, how important is judicial independence and to what extent are judges accountable.
The work covers conflicts that have arisen between courts and governments and looks at some spectacular instances of judges in collision with established forces – instances of alleged judicial misbehaviour.
Part two of Judging the World is the edited transcripts of the interviews – an invaluable record and sharp insight into the thoughts of the world’s most powerful judges.