THE ENGLISH JUDGE
| Published date | 01 January 1967 |
| Author | Leslie Scarman |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2230.1967.tb01134.x |
| Date | 01 January 1967 |
THE
MODERN
LAW
REVIEW
Volume
30
January
1967
No.
1
THE ENGLISH JUDGE
TEXT
OF
AN
ADDRESS GIVEN
AT
A
CONFERENCE
OF
GERMAN
JUDGES
AND
LAWYERS
HELD
UNDER
THE
AUSPICES
OF
THE
EDUCATIONAL
INTERCHANGE
COUNCIL
ON
WEDNESDAY,
MAY
18,
1966
IT
is not possible to understand the English legal system without
proper appreciation of the position of the English judge. By and
large there are two sources of English law: Parliament, whose
enactments are to be found in the Statute Book, and the judges,
whose decisions are to be found in the Law Reports. Statute law
is
to a large extent formalised in its arrangement and language but
the decisions of the judges are the free composition of t,he judgcs
themselves. A judge may give the reasons for his decision extem-
pore immediately following the argument of counsel.
On
the other
hand, he may decide to take time to consider his judgment, in
which event he will probably prepare a written judgment which he
reads in open court.
It
is entirely his choice whether he gives
judgment immediately
or
takes time to consider
it;
whether he
writes
it
out in full
or
speaks from his notes
or
his recollection.
Equally,
it
is entirely his choice whether he gives judgment
in
a
few words
or
commits himself to a complex technical statement of
his reasons. A glance at the Law Reports will reveal the astonish-
ing variety in style of the English judges. For instance,
in
the case
of
Re
Diplock
the Court of Appeal deployed their reasons in such
detail that the report of the case occupies ninety-nine pages in
the Law Reports. When the case went
on
appeal to the House of
Lords, the judgment of the House was given quite shortly, the five
speeches of the Law Lords occupying only twenty-seven pages.2
It
cannot be doubted that the vigour of English law derives
largely from the breath-taking freedom of choice allowed to English
judges in the style and substance
of
the reasoning which they
adduce to support the orders that they make. From this freedom
1
19481
1
Ch.
465.
2
119511
A.C.
251.
VOL.
30
1
1
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