40 WWW.LAWYER-MONTHLY.COM | JUN 2022 The relationship between judges, political leaders and voters is becoming increasingly fraught around the world. In the UK, the recent Queen’s Speech promised to “restore the balance of power between the legislature and the courts” – a move that was promptly branded a “power grab by the state” by some commentators. In the US, public anger against the Supreme Court’s leaked draft of an abortion ruling to overturn a landmark 1973 jurisprudence in the Rove v Wade decision – and President Biden recommending that the Court should not do so – also underlined this year how much the judiciaries have become politicised and how important it is that judges are made properly accountable. The US Supreme Court has become divided along party lines. Former President Trump went so far as to call judges “socalled” judges and “Obama judges”. In the UK, judges have been accused of being “enemies of the people”. In France, the notorious Outreau Case was described as a “judicial disaster” with the French judiciary Throughout the modern world there is a developing trend of dissatisfaction with the perceived politicisation of the judiciary. New efforts are being made to devise systems of governance that will insulate the judicial branch from political bias. In this feature we hear one such proposal from Mehmet Gün, international lawyer and founder of the Better Justice Association, an independent think tank focused on democracy and rule of law. How to Protect the Judiciary from Political Interference Mehmet Gün Founder Better Justice Association Kore Şehitleri Cad. 17, Zincirlikuyu 34394, İstanbul, Turkey Tel: +90 212 354 00 12 E: mehmet.gun@gun.av.tr www.gun.av.tr HOW TO PROTECT THE JUDICIARY FROM POLITICAL INTERFERENCE
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