ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the nature of the British judicial system and growing concern about its powers and competence. Judges seek to interpret the law according to judicial norms that operate independently of partisan or personal preferences. The judiciary is deemed to be independent of the other two branches of government. Its independence is recognised in statute. Apart from a number of specialised courts and tribunals, the organisational division of courts is that between criminal law and civil law. More than 90 per cent of criminal cases in England and Wales are tried in one of approximately 330 magistrates' courts. Judges, by the nature of their calling, are expected to be somewhat detached from the rest of society. Perceptions of greater judicial activism derive not just from the cases that have attracted significant media attention. The United Kingdom signed the treaty of accession to the European Community in 1972.
