Judicial independence

Judicial independence is the concept that the judiciary should be independent from the other branches of government, meaning that courts should not be subject to improper influence from those branches or from private or partisan interests. Judicial independence is an important component of the separation of powers. Different countries deal with the idea of judicial independence through different means of judicial selection, that is, choosing judges. One method seen as promoting judicial independence is by granting life tenure or long tenure for judges, as it would ideally free them to decide cases and make rulings according to the rule of law and judicial discretion, even if those decisions are politically unpopular or opposed by powerful interests. This concept can be traced back to 18th-century England.