Judicial Cultures and Judicial Independence

In this article, I argue that apparently common values, such as ‘judicial independence’ have significantly different meanings in different judicial cultures. As an illustration, I take Sweden and Spain, countries with very different histories and institutional arrangements. It is my contention that basic values are understood and implemented in the light of historical and institutional settings. These have given rise to issues which a nation’s judiciary feel it has to address and set the context in which the contemporary judiciary has to operate. The purpose is to examine how far national histories and traditions colour the understanding of common values, such as judicial independence and democracy in the judicial process.