<P> The year 1997 saw a major shift towards judicial independence, as the Supreme Court of Canada in the Provincial Judges Reference found an unwritten constitutional norm guaranteeing judicial independence to all judges, including civil law inferior court judges . The unwritten norm is said to be implied by the preamble to the Constitution Act, 1867 . Consequently, judicial compensation committees such as the Judicial Compensation and Benefits Commission now recommend judicial salaries in Canada . There are two types of judicial independence: institutional independence and decisional independence . Institutional independence means the judicial branch is independent from the executive and legislative branches . Decisional independence is the idea that judges should be able to decide cases solely based on the law and facts, without letting the media, politics or other concerns sway their decisions, and without fearing penalty in their careers for their decisions . </P> <P> In Hong Kong, independence of the judiciary has been the tradition since the territory became a British crown colony in 1842 . After the 1997 transfer of sovereignty of Hong Kong to the People's Republic of China pursuant to the Sino - British Joint Declaration, an international treaty registered with the United Nations, independence of the judiciary, along with continuation of English common law, has been enshrined in the territory's constitutional document, the Basic Law . In recent years, this independence has been put into question after a number of interventions from China on several cases which swayed rulings in the Executive's favour, most notably the Hong Kong Legislative Council oath - taking controversy of 2016 . </P> <P> During the middle ages, under the Norman monarchy of the Kingdom of England, the king and his Curia Regis held judicial power . Judicial independence began to emerge during the early modern period; more courts were created and a judicial profession grew . By the fifteenth century, the king's role in this feature of government became small . Nevertheless, kings could still influence courts and dismiss judges . The Stuart dynasty used this power frequently in order to overpower the Parliament of England . After the Stuarts were removed in the Glorious Revolution of 1688, some advocated guarding against royal manipulation of the judiciary . King William III approved the Act of Settlement 1701, which established tenure for judges unless Parliament removed them . </P> <P> Under the uncodified British Constitution, there are two important conventions which help to preserve judicial independence . The first is that the Parliament of the United Kingdom does not comment on the cases which are before the court . The second is the principle of parliamentary privilege: that Members of Parliament are protected from prosecution in certain circumstances by the courts . </P>

How are the rule of law judicial review and judicial independence key elements of a democracy