Regularly attacked for being too political, judiciary trade unionism no longer fits the image preferred by some of those who would like to see its demise. Will it be able to negotiate the change in direction demanded by developments in society at large? These societal changes have had a major impact on the way the justice system operates, with the role of social regulation that used to be played by the State being gradually transferred to its judges. The problem is that the justice system has neither the resources nor the competencies to take on this new role and is today constrained by the limits imposed on it by its fossilised structures and practices. The challenge facing the trade unions is to find, for themselves and the judicial system, responses to the developments that are turning the welfare state into a surveillance state and replacing the judicial judge, in an increasing number of areas, by the administrative judge, who enjoys a level of trust by politicians that the former does not have.