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BRITISH ANTECEDENTS FOR U.S. IMPEACHMENT PRACTICES: CONTINUITY AND CHANGE

NCJ Number
143595
Journal
Justice System Journal Volume: 14 Issue: 1 Dated: (1990) Pages: 40-62
Author(s)
M L Volcanek
Date Published
1990
Length
23 pages
Annotation
This analysis of impeachment practices traces their development in Great Britain, recent developments in judicial discipline in that country, and the extent to which impeachment practices in the United States have diverged from British precedents.
Abstract
The impeachment process dated from medieval England and became a means of strengthening the position of Parliament with respect to the Crown. Impeachment became rare in Great Britain in the 18th Century, when the most important case was that of Warren Hastings, the first governor general of India, in 1786. In the United States, Congress has ordered impeachment inquiries 70 times, including at least 55 involving Federal judges. The British abandoned impeachment after 1805 as too cumbersome and confusing a procedure to be practical. They select judges based on their legal competence and thus have not been burdened with finding reasonable, apolitical methods of removing corrupt judges. If judges in the United States were selected on the basis of legal skill rather than ideology and political persuasion, the quality of the Federal judiciary would improve. In addition, judges chosen this way should be paid well. Footnotes and 43 references