This study of the English judiciary stimulates a discussion of the factors shaping judicial independence, including accountability and constitutional adjudication.

Shimon Shetreet is the Greenblatt chair of public and international law at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel, where he is a past chairman of the Sacher Institute of Legislative Research and Comparative Law. In 1980, he served as a member of the Chief Justice Landau Commission on the Israeli Court System and is President of the International Association of Judicial Independence. Between 1988 and 1996 he served as a Member of the Israeli Parliament, and was a cabinet minister under Yitshak Rabin and Shimon Peres.

1. Introduction; 2. Constitutional steps towards judicial independence; 3. The structure and governance of the English judiciary; 4. Judicial appointments; 5. Standards of conduct on the bench; 6. Standards of conduct in extra-judicial activities; 7. Immunity, discipline and removal of judges; 8. Freedom of expression and public confidence in the judiciary; 9. Conclusion.