Indipendenza dei giudici e conflitto sociale. La proposta di Harold J. Laski tra formazione giuridica e "judicial appointment"

This paper, presented at the "Alessandro Pizzorusso" Memorial Conference 2020 in Pisa, sketches the problem of judicial independence in Harold Laski's works. Moving from this renowned British author's critical attitude to the judiciary, which for him meant essentially a branch of the State-power used to defend the claims of the bourgeoisie, I will show the strategies Laski tried to design in order to drive judges to heed the claims of the working-class too. I will focus, in particular, on the problem of legal education on the one hand, and on that of judicial appointment on the other. To conclude, I will argue that Laski's thought on these matters might be useful in understanding some contemporary reforms of the judicial system in England.