Judicial independence in earnest: a proposal for regulation

There is currently a general consensus on the existence of a scope of discretion, the extent of which is debated but in our opinion is high, available to the judge to apply the law. This leads to the need to analyze the extra-legal factors, from the ideology and social background of the judge to his or her political loyalties or personal ambitions, which may have an impact on his or her independence and lead to unreasonable sentences that are highly detrimental to the judiciary or the public in general. In short, it is essential to promote judicial independence through specific legislative measures, and to this end we will devote this paper to examining in detail the threats to such independence and proposing regulatory solutions to address them.