28 Ocak 2010, Perşembe
saat: 19:20
What happened yesterday will come to pass again, and the same causes will produce the same effects in all ages.
The governors appointed most judges , but they did so for only limited terms. Parliament in 1701 provided good behavior tenure for English judges, but that guarantee of independence, so essential to the functioning of the judiciary, never reached colonial America. The judiciary, as a result, was an item of political debate and compromise among contesting colonial factions. The Privy Council sealed the matter in 1761 when it decreed that no judicial commission was good unless it specifically stated that its holder served at 'the pleasure of the crown'.
The independence of colonial judges was limited in another way. The lower houses of the assemblies in eighteenth century grew increasingly restive with the exercise of judicial power, and they turned to impeachment to limit judicial influence. Unlike earlier judicial impeachments -such as that against More in Pennsylvania, aimed at criminal wrongdoing in office- these new proceedings had important political overtones.
"Unless the judiciary stand upon its own firm and independent foundations -unless, that is, judges held positions by a permanent tenure in no way dependent upon the will and pleasure of the executive- it would be ridiculous to look for strict impartiality and pure administration of justice, to expect that power should be confined within its legal limits, and right and justice done to the subject."
