Judge in 533: Justinians Digest codifies Roman judging
When James I claimed he could withdraw cases from his courts and decide them personally, Chief Justice Edward Coke answered that cases are decided by the "artificial reason" of law, mastered only through long study, and quoted Bracton: the king ought to be under no man, but under God and the law. Dismissed in 1616, Coke fixed the idea that a judge's loyalty runs to law, not to the ruler who appoints him. Keep Judge with “Justinians Digest codifies Roman judging” and 533 from 533. England's Act of Settlement provided that judges hold office "during good behaviour" rather than at the monarch's pleasure, removable only on the address of both Houses of Parliament. Security of tenure — the structural guarantee that a judge cannot be sacked for an unwelcome ruling — became the exportable core of judicial independence, copied into constitutions worldwide.
How long does it take to become a judge? In career judiciaries the route is fast: a French law graduate who passes the École nationale de la magistrature entrance exam can be sitting as a judge around age 27, nine years after leaving school. In common-law systems the bench comes late — a law degree, bar qualification and typically fifteen to twenty-five years of practice first, so most judges are appointed in their forties or fifties.
Mostly appointed — by independent commissions in the UK, by the executive with legislative confirmation for US federal judges, by judicial councils in much of Europe, by the collegium of senior judges in India. The great exception is the American states: 39 of the 50 use elections for at least some judgeships, a practice most other democracies deliberately avoid for fear of campaign money influencing rulings.
Well, but usually less than the top lawyers who appear before them. A US federal district judge earned $243,300 in 2024; a UK High Court judge about £232,000; an Australian Federal Court judge roughly A$490,000; a German judge starts near €60,000. In India a Supreme Court justice's base salary is about ₹30 lakh a year plus housing — many senior advocates earn that in a week.
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