What is the test for judicial independence?

The independence of persons exercising judicial functions is a fundament public right in a free and democratic society. It is not a private privilege granted to the judiciary to be modified or retracted at the will of the state. Its source is now found in Sections 7 and 11(d) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Judicial independence has two objectives: to allow judges to hear and decide cases without interference or fear of interference; and to enable courts to fulfill their role as an independent branch of the government whose duty it is to protect the constitution. See The Queen v. Beauregard 1986 CanLII 24 (SCC), [1986] 2 S.C.R. 56. Although independence can have several characteristics, basic to it is security of tenure. Without security of tenure, other trappings of independence are of little value. The power to dismiss is the power to control. Thus, even if there can be “levels” of independence, as the respondent here argues, an essential component to any level is security of tenure.