Blackstone on Judges; Blackstone as Judge

Abstract

In this paper the author draws upon some of the evidence from Blackstone’s surviving correspondence to explore his judicial attitudes and behaviour. The basic question posed by the author is simply stated. How far did Blackstone as a judge remain true to his own sentiments on judicial independence as expressed in his magnum opus, the Commentaries? The author concludes that Blackstone was not simply a malleable instrument of what may have been fast becoming an imperial state and that for him, judicial independence was something more than empty constitutionalist rhetoric.

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