Judicial Independence in Times of Crisis: Introduction

The articles in this Symposium address various aspects of the role of the judiciary in times of crisis. Most of them speak from the perspective of a specific country—the United Kingdom, United States, India, Iraq, and Israel. The sixth article draws on the author’s experience with the former Soviet republics and the Middle East to make the point that many governments are in transition, just as the United States was in transition for much of its history. It might not be immediately clear why the current experiences of developed countries such as the United Kingdom and the United States are considered times of crisis compared to the struggles of post-Ba’athist Iraq, or how the comparatively well-established but still maturing judiciaries of Israel and India relate to the others.

The details of those correlations will emerge later, but for now, it will suffice to say that the judiciaries of all of these countries have faced challenges to their autonomy and authority, while the countries themselves have faced challenges to national security and economic stability.