It was necessary, too, to keep judges independent. He mused on how constrained they were: unable to initiate or annul anything, and subject to the sovereignty of Parliament.

to alter or annul inappropriate orders, directives and regulations issued by the ministries or commissions;

The book remains at rest or, in physical terminology, in static equilibrium not because there are no forces acting on it but because the forces which do act on it annul one another.