Judicial immunity

Judicial immunity is a form of sovereign immunity, which protects judges and others employed by the judiciary from liability resulting from their judicial actions. It is intended to ensure that judges can make decisions free from improper influence exercised on them, contributing to the impartiality of the judiciary and the rule of law. In modern times, the main purpose of "judicial immunity [is to shield] judges from the suits of ordinary people", mainly litigants who may be dissatisfied with the outcome of a case decided by the judge.

Though judges have immunity from lawsuit, in constitutional democracies judicial misconduct or bad personal behaviour is not completely protected – total impunity is in fact considered contrary to the rule of law. Depending on the jurisdiction, they may be criminally charged for courtroom behaviour unrelated to the decision-making process (for example, by shooting someone and committing a murder unrelated to capital punishment by the state), bad decisions may be reversed by an appeals court, and judges may be removed by other judges on the same or higher court (in the United States, a judicial council), by a recall election, by the next regular election, or following impeachment by a legislature.