This book has been prepared under the Project of the National Science Centre entitled “The third power of courts and judges in Poland from the perspective of theory and philosophy of law” (2013/11/B/HS5/04156). The aim of the project is to analyze the relations between the standard of institutional guarantees of judicial power, the status of common courts and judges, judicial ethics, the principles of judicial proceedings and those systemic factors in the judiciary area which materially aff ect the nature of power exercised by the courts. The concept of “independence of judges and courts” is essential in that respect. The changes in functioning of the judiciary model and their social perception cause that a connotation which is given to both terms by the legitimation of judicial power is more and more important again. The latter one is also subject to transformations, accompanied by discussions, along with the legal and political disputes.