This book contests the existence of "judicial independence". It maintains that civil servants, historically and up to the present day, have advanced executive mission-creep and eroded common law principles via their influence over the Judges' Rules. The publication more than four decades ago of research which demonstrated the pervasiveness of the unmentionable practice of plea bargaining provoked fury, consternation, and threats of suppression. Mike McConville and Luke Marsh's book The Myth of Judicial Independence is certain to generate an even greater furore. Rather than focusing on the roles of individual judges, police, prosecutors, and defence lawyers, this book (based on original archival data) exposes the politicization of criminal justice at its core - debunking the policies crafted and implemented by the Home Office and senior judges. It will force a fundamental reconsideration of the 'Westminster Model' at the very moment when it is under enormous stress.