ABSTRACT
This chapter considers 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. Law is supposed to operate on the basis of formal equality: everyone is assumed to be equal before the law and to be treated equally, regardless of their personal attributes or situation. Central to the general idea of the rule of law is the specific proposition that it involves the rule of law rather than the rule of people. Judges hold a position of central importance in relation to the concept of the rule of law. With the victory of Parliament and the establishment of a state based on popular sovereignty, and limited in its powers, the independence of the judiciary was confirmed in the Act of Settlement 1701.
