judge, jury and executioner
Total legal power
Judge, jury and executioner describes someone who unilaterally decides guilt and administers punishment without oversight or appeal.
The phrase invokes the separation of legal roles—determining facts, rendering verdict, carrying out sentence—to criticize their dangerous concentration in one person: He appointed himself judge, jury and executioner.
Usually appears with verbs like act as, play, or be.
- adjudicatorOne rendering formal decisions
- gavelSmall ceremonial hammer
- autocratSole wielder of power
- arbiterOne who settles disputes
- sentencerOne who pronounces punishment
vigilante · verdict · tyrant · self-appointed · magistrate · deliberation · docket · kangaroo court · unilateralism · despot · power trip · accountability · bias · lynch mob · prosecution · mob rule · justice · summary justice
judge, jury and executionerdue process
Guaranteed judicial fairness
fair trial · separation of powers · rule of law · checks and balances · judicial review
judge, jury and executionerchecks and balances
Constitutional power-limiting framework
oversight · public scrutiny · democratic accountability · shared responsibility
judge, jury and executionerdue process
Guaranteed judicial fairness
court of law · legal proceeding · rule of law · judicial process
executioner, judges, judged, judging, judgment, judgement, judgmental, judgemental, jurors