Goal II - Independence and Accountability

The judiciary must maintain its status as an independent, separate, and equal branch of government. The independence of judicial decisionmaking will be protected in order to preserve the rule of law and ensure the fair, impartial, and efficient delivery of justice. The judiciary will unify in its advocacy for resources and policies that support and protect independent and impartial judicial decisionmaking in accordance with the State Constitution and the law. The branch will maintain the highest standards of accountability for its use of public resources and adherence to its statutory and constitutional mandates.

    Overview

    California's judicial branch is an independent, separate, and co-equal branch of state government charged with preserving the rule of law, upholding Californians' constitutional rights, and ensuring fair and impartial courts. In order to discharge these important constitutional responsibilities, the branch must maintain its independence and resist pressures that would compromise the independence of judicial decisionmaking. Increasingly, judicial officers must contend with a variety of challenges as they make judicial decisions on issues charged with public controversy.

    In serving the people of California, the judicial branch must also exercise its constitutional and statutory authority and responsibility to plan for, direct, monitor, and support the business of the branch and to account to the public for the branch's performance. The judicial branch must develop meaningful judicial branch performance standards, measure performance against the standards, analyze data on those measures, report the results to constituents on a regular basis, and support changes to increase efficiency and effectiveness.

    For policy details, please see the complete Judicial Branch Strategic Plan.
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