Q.Hold a debate: which factors constrain judges in giving rulings (Constitution, Precedents, Opinion of other courts, Public opinion, Media, Traditions of law, Laws, Time/staff constraints, Fear of public criticism, Fear of executive action)? Are these justified?

The listed factors are not all equally legitimate — some are what "ruling by law" means, others are pressures independence is meant to guard against.

The debate prompt lists ten possible constraints on judges: Constitution, Precedents, Opinion of other courts, Public opinion, Media, Traditions of law, Laws, Time and staff constraints, Fear of public criticism, and Fear of action by executive.

Justified constraints. A judge being bound by the Constitution, by existing laws, by binding precedent, by the reasoned opinions of other courts, and by the established traditions of legal reasoning is exactly what the rule of law requires — these are not threats to independence but the very content of what "ruling according to law" means. A judge free to ignore all of these would not be more independent; they would simply be unaccountable, which this chapter is explicit is not the same thing as independence.

A real but imperfect constraint. Time and staff constraints are a genuine, practical limitation — courts are overburdened, especially since judicial activism widened the range of cases they hear — but they are not a principled constraint at all; they are a resource problem that, ideally, should not shape the outcome of a case, even though in practice it sometimes affects how thoroughly a case gets examined.

Constraints that threaten independence. Public opinion, media coverage, fear of public criticism, and fear of executive action are exactly the pressures the Constitution's safeguards — security of tenure, financial independence, immunity from personal criticism, the contempt-of-court power — are designed to insulate judges from. A judge who rules to please public opinion or to avoid upsetting the executive is not exercising independent judgment "without fear or favour"; they are doing the opposite of what independence requires. These constraints are not justified, even though they may be realistically present.