Judicial restraint is a legal principle that refers to the idea of judges refraining from making decisions that might interfere with the decisions of other branches of government. Other terms that are often used as synonyms for judicial restraint include judicial modesty, judicial deference, and judicial self-restraint. These terms all describe the same basic concept, which is the idea that judges should avoid making overly broad or sweeping rulings that could unduly limit the actions of other government officials. While there may be debate over the exact definition of judicial restraint, most legal experts and scholars agree that it is an important principle to uphold in order to maintain a balance of power between different branches of government.