Judicial Independence, Judicial Discipline & the Administrative State

This paper explores the impact of constitutional rules and principles on the design of the administrative state. Drawing on theories of structural constitutionalism and comparative public law, this paper considers the intersection of constitutional and administrative law in a particular context, that of judicial discipline and removal. It asks whether certain institutions, such as judicial oversight and disciplinary bodies, must exist within a constitutional order that takes judicial independence seriously. It contends that the answer to this question is yes and goes on to study the necessary features of such institutions and the consequences of their absence. In its theorization of the relationship between a constitution and the administrative state using the particular case of judicial independence and discipline, this paper advances understandings of constitutional architecture and of the necessary mechanisms for ensuring judicial integrity in times of complexity and change.