Judicial Independence

Judicial Independence : Judges must be free from these to make decisions

Political and negative influences

Reasonable Apprehension of Bias Test : The legal test used to evaluate threats to judicial independence

Would a reasonable person believe the judge was free?

Feature 1 of Judicial Independence : Prevents removal for unpopular decisions

Tenure

Feature 2 of Judicial Independence : Fixed salary paid by Parliament, not Executive

Financial Security

Feature 3 of Judicial Independence : Ability of courts to manage their own affairs (no judge shuffling)

Administrative Independence

Feature 4 of Judicial Independence : Judges cannot be sued civilly for decisions

Immunity from Prosecution

Re: Remuneration of Judges (1997) : Case that established the four features of judicial independence

Provincial Court Judges

Judicial Review (Direct) : Obtaining review as a person directly affected by this

Government action

Judicial Review (Reference) : When this actor sends questions directly to the Supreme Court

Government