Judicial independence and economic development in the Commonwealth

Abstract

Judicial independence is essential to upholding the rule of law, which in turn creates favourable conditions for economic development. This article examines how an independent judiciary can contribute to a country’s economic development. It analyses how judges, through actions such as judicial review, fighting corruption and enforcing of equality between citizens, can play a role in stimulating economic development. The article also highlights the importance of maintaining efficient and accessible courts and providing judges with effective means to fulfil their functions.

Notes

¹ UNSC ‘The Rule of Law and Transitional Justice in Conflict and Post-conflict Societies – Report of the Secretary-General’ UN Doc S/2004/616 (23 August 2004) para 6.

² As agreed by Law Ministers and endorsed by the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, Abuja, Nigeria, 2003.

³ Adopted by the Seventh United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders (Milan, 26 August–6 September 1985), endorsed by UNGA Res 40/32 (29 November 1985) and UNGA Res 40/146 (13 December 1985).

⁴ Adopted by the Judicial Group on Strengthening Judicial Integrity, as revised at the Round Table Meeting of Chief Justices held at the Peace Palace, The Hague (25–26 November 2002).

⁵ Bangalore Principles, s 1.3.

⁶ International Bar Association Minimum Standards of Judicial Independence, adopted in 1982.

⁷ Basic Principles on the Independence of the Judiciary, s 1: ‘The Independence of the Judiciary Shall be Guaranteed by the State and Enshrined in the Constitution or the Law of the Country. It is the Duty of all Governmental and Other Institutions to Respect and Observe the Independence of the Judiciary’.

⁸ Ibid., s 13.

⁹ Ibid., s 18 and Commonwealth (Latimer House) Principles.

¹⁰ Bangalore Principles, Value 1.

¹¹ UNGA ‘Declaration of the High-level Meeting of the General Assembly on the Rule of Law at the National and International Levels’, A/RES/67/1 (30 November 2012).

¹² LA Berg and D Desai, ‘Background Paper: Overview on the Rule of Law and Sustainable Development for the Global Dialogue on Rule of Law and the Post-2015 Development Agenda’ (August 2013) <http://www.undp.org/content/dam/undp/library/Democratic%20Governance/Access%20to%20Justice%20and%20Rule%20of%20Law/Global%20Dialogue%20Background%20Paper%20-%20Rule%20of%20Law%20and%20Sustainable%20Developme....pdf> accessed 24 April 2014.

¹³ D Klerman, ‘Legal Infrastructure, Judicial Independence, and Economic Development’ (2007) 19 GBDLJ 427, 430.

¹⁴ KW Dam, ‘The Judiciary and Economic Development’ (March 2006) John M Olin Law and Economics Working Paper No. 287 <http://ssrn.com/abstract_id=892030> accessed 24 April 2014.

¹⁵ World Bank, World Development Report 2005: A Better Investment Climate for Everyone (World Bank and Oxford University Press, New York 2005).

¹⁶ World Bank, World Development Report 2006: Equity and Development (World Bank and Oxford University Press, New York 2005) 156.

¹⁷ Ibid.

¹⁸ World Development Report 2005 (n 15) 82: ‘Securing rights benefits both individual landholders, through investment incentives and credit access, and the community at large, through its impact on growth and poverty reduction’.

¹⁹ See Commonwealth Secretariat, ‘Report on Strategy to Combat Corruption and Related Economic and Financial Crimes’ (paper presented at the Law Ministers Meeting, Gaborone, Botswana, 5–8 May 2014), para 18–23.

²⁰ The Commonwealth, ‘Establishing a Commercial Court in Lesotho’ <http://thecommonwealth.org/project/establishing-commercial-court-lesotho> accessed 3 June 2014.