THE JUDGE AND THE COMMON MAN *
| Date | 01 November 1969 |
| Published date | 01 November 1969 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2230.1969.tb01238.x |
| Author | Brian McKenna |
THE
MODERN
LAW
REVIEW
Volume
32
November
1969
No.
6
THE
.JUDGE
AND
THE
COMMON MAN*
You
of
course are
cc
the Common Mjan.”
I
have not called you
“
the Reasonable Man,” as lawyers usually
do,
lest
I
should seem
to contrast the one with the other, which might be thought unfair
to
the judge.
I
do
not
mean to make a contrast; my theme,
so
far
as
I
have any, is that none would be justified. There
is
no difference
between the judge and the Common Man except that the one
administers the law and the other endures
it:
that is all.
You who live in Durham and lare accustomed
to
the magnificence
of the assizes, may doubt the sincerity of my modest
words.
If
judges thought of themselves as ordinary mortals, doing a job
of
work like any other man, would they come to Durham in such state
to
hold their assizes
?
“
Why flutter flags from the tower of the gaol and the keep
of
Bright ’gainst the gray sky behind the battlements black
of
the
’Tis that the Judge is
to
come-the Red Judge-to hold the
Liberty bringing
to
some-but to others surcease of life’s
the Castle,.
donjon
?
Assizes,
labour.”
And
so on.
You may be surprised
to
hear that the author
of
these curious
verses, and of many others like them, the late
Mr.
Justice Darling,
was possibly a better poet than a judge.
I
shall be returning to
him later in this lecture
for
a moment.
The origins of the ceremonial he
so
lovingly describes are in
history,
at
a
time when justice was thought of as the king’s pre-
rogative, and the judge as the king’s representative, come
to
exercise his master’s power in royal state. But that was long ago,
and times have changed.
For
my part
I
would not have the per-
formance continue unless it can be shown
to
serve a useful purpose.
*
A
lwture delivered at
Durham
University February
21,
1969.
1
On
the
Ozford
Circuit
and
Other
Verses
’(1909),
by
The
Hon.
Mr.
Justice
Darling.
VOL.
32
1
601
21
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