Monday, September 17, 2007
Another post about our beloved judges. Judges in the past used to talk alot. Even when they agree, they must tell the whole world something they already know from the previous judge's opinion. In Ashbury Railway Carriage & Iron Co v Riche, a 1875 case, the following judges did this: LORD O'HAGAN: My Lords, I am clearly of the same opinion (and since he's "clearly" of the same opinion, he only went on for another 3 pages) But now, in the present day, we have our lovable Baroness Hale of Richmond, who said this in OBG v. Allen: My Lords, I have read your Lordships' opinions with admiration.. On the first two issues, Lord Hoffmann's view is shared by a majority. The least said by the rest of us who take the same view, therefore, the better. There should be no doubt, and no room for argument, about what has been decided and why. Any perceived inconsistency between what I say and what he says is to be resolved in favour of the latter. Indeed, there would be much to be said for our adopting the practice of other supreme courts in having a single majority opinion to which all have contributed and all can subscribe without further qualification or explanation. There would be less grist to the advocates' and academics' mills, but future litigants might thank us for that. And on the subject of Baroness Hale, she really is quite funny. In Campbell v. MGN, a case about Naomi Campbell and her druggie meeting being exposed, this was what she said: "Even the judges know who Naomi Campbell is." "Put crudely, it is a prima donna celebrity against a celebrity-exploiting tabloid newspaper." "One reason why press freedom is so important is that we need newspapers to sell in order to ensure that we still have newspapers at all." And yes, I'm getting quite bored from reading cases to post this up.
LORD HATHERLEY: My Lords, I am of the same opinion. (and then goes on for another 5 pages)
More Fuzzy Logic @ 12:08 AM
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