Of Courts and Judges: Under the Spotlight, In the Limelight and Seeing the Light

This article engages in a comparative journey exploring a number of well recorded significant episodes in which courts and judges have been thrust into a storm of controversies. Some of these controversies pertain to judges who have been subjected to investigation for alleged failure to live up to the constitutional standards expected of independent and impartial judicial officers. Others pertain to judges who have drawn themselves into the eye of a storm by being placed in the limelight. The final category of episodes relates to those judges who are confronted with challenges to their impartiality and who have to make decisions as to whether to recuse themselves from adjudicating on a particular dispute.