ABSTRACT
One of the beneficial by-products of colonialism was that well trained and impartial judges were sent to the colonies by the Colonial Office in London as well paid members of the Colonial Legal Service. No political or other pressure could be exerted on them because they served under English Governors instructed to leave judicial business entirely up to those judges, who were subject to transfer from one part of the ‘Empire’ to another. This policy at the same time had its dangers and drawbacks since judges, to be effective in their work, should understand the social environment in which they serve. However, under that system judges could not be dismissed at pleasure: quam diu se bene gesserint, that is, so long as they behaved well. They could not be dismissed at all by local politicians. After independence following the end of the Second World War, things changed-as we shall see by an examination of the attitude of the executive to the judiciary in three newly independent countries.
