Why do we value judicial independence? Among the various values
vouchsafed by judicial independence, two stand out: freedom from external
influence and judicial impartiality. Judicial independence may also be a proxy
for other values. For example, it may reflect "a concern about consistency
across cases and, hence, across time." 118 Both of these values are, of course,
RL values as traditionally understood. A fuller consideration of the connection
between judicial independence and RL must await the next Part, 119 but the
central point here is that an independent judiciary is considered by many
commentators, and most RL reformers, as a sine qua non for RL. Indeed,
various indexes of RL found in USAID and World Bank reform efforts view
the relationship between judicial independence and good governance as a
linear one.120