ABSTRACT
The importance of the courts and the judges within the common law has already been considered in previous chapters of this book. It has been suggested that the judges have considerable scope for determining the meaning and effect of law through their marshalling, not to say manipulation, of the rules of precedent and statutory interpretation. The purpose of the present chapter is further to consider those issues but more essentially to consider the actual roles of judges, how they are appointed and how the operation of their judicial functions may raise constitutional issues as to the interests the judiciary represent.
