Autonomy of the judge in theory and practice- Strengthening the independent judiciary

The starting point of this project is the predominant assumption that the independence of courts requires independent, and hence autonomous, judges. The traditional idea is represented by Rawls "veil of ignorance", where the judge is cut out of context and relations.

As this idea of autonomy is defined and discussed as an ideal we argue that autonomy should be explored in practice with another perception, lived autonomy, rooted in everyday life needs to be explored.

The project aims to explore how autonomy of judges is described in legal procedural discourse and embodied and performed in practice by judges, using the traditional idea of autonomy and lived autonomy as theoretical tools.

The project runs for three years, and addresses 3 research questions: 1) How is autonomy described normatively in legal discourse? 2) How do judges discursively (in interviews) perceive and interpret autonomy? 3) How is autonomy performed in practice?

Procedural legal doctrine will be analysed, 50-70 judges will be studied by shadowing and interviews on their perceptions and embodiment of autonomy.

The project is the first to study the autonomy of the judge in procedural literature and performed in practice combined.

In this way, it contributes to knowledge on the judges’ own perception of how to adopt, perform and display and embody autonomy in a reflexive and systematic way, that equip and prepare judges with increased resilience towards threats that targets the independence of the courts.