To what extent are judges politically neutral?

The Judiciary and Civil Liberties Assignment 3: To what extent are judges politically neutral? In theory there should be no 'political' role for judges, but in practice there is. Ministers and their departments can break the law, MPs can be charged with breaking laws about election expenses and civil servants can be charged with handing over secrets about their political 'bosses'. A member of the judiciary has to decide whether they will be charged and, if …

…not a lawyer, to take charge of the judicial process in the UK, as in the case in other EU countries. Judges or senior lawyers are frequently used to chair major public inquiries. This important role of the judiciary can again be seen as very 'political'. Example, Lawrence inquiry into the death of Stephen Lawrence, the Paddington Rail Inquiry and the Kennedy inquiry and the Kennedy inquiry into the deaths of babies in Bristol hospitals.