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The irresponsibility of magistrates is a recurring theme in the public debate, which questions an alleged impossibility to assign fault to a magistrate in the performance of his duties. On closer observation, the debate about the magistrates’ irresponsibility has more to do with the place they occupy in the structure of the state, the relations between the judiciary and the litigants, and the symbolic power of verdicts. By analysing this theme from different angles (judicial, historic and ethical), it is possible to reveal the matters and issues that affect it and the unthought elements that underpin it.