The legitimacy of judicial power

The legitimacy of a social structure is established via ensuring two basic elements. The first one is the materialistic element. Considering that every social structure arises from a requirement, in order to ensure legitimacy, it must have at the very least the capacity to meet this requirement. Yet, simply fulfilling the requirement remains insufficient. In order to ensure its legitimacy, having the characteristic of a social structure, shall satisfy the moral expectations of society as it carries out its functions. In this regard, the legitimacy of the judiciary shall be discussed, taking its functions into account.The principal function of the judiciary is to secure peace and justice by bringing solutions to disagreements. The principal value that it takes as a basis while performing this function, however, is justice. In order to ensure justice, not only must the pending decision be fair / equitable, but also the judgment process must be performed in an equitable way. This element forms the very first step of the legitimacy of the judiciary problem.While resolving disagreements, the judiciary contributes to the protection of social order. Yet, in class societies, there may arise some conflicts between the requirements of justice and those of social order. The main reason for this is as the judiciary intends to protect social order, it also contributes in protecting the interests of the ruling class. This contradiction forms the second step of the legitimacy of the judiciary problem. The basic principal of the judiciary for its legitimacy in the face of this contradiction is impartiality. The legitimacy of the judiciary can only be considered as long as the society has faith and trust in its impartiality.The third function of the judiciary in liberal democracies is to protect the interests of the state. The judiciary has undertaken this function in order to maintain its own conditions of existence as a governmental power. Yet, in some cases, a state of conflict between the interests of the state and the requirements of social justice may arise. The judiciary ? politics relationship forms the subject on which the legitimacy of the judiciary is discussed the most. Thus, this element forms the third step of the legitimacy of the judiciary problematic.Key Words: The judiciary, the legitimacy, functions of the judiciary, the legitimacy of the judiciary, judicial independence, judicial impartiality, fair trial, justice.