The Gazette 1985

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1985

GAZETTE

and Trusts" argues that Lord Denning in concentrating on doing justice between the parties before him has "considerably diminished the coherence and consistency of Chancery law which enables justice to be done according to the law, viz. the justice that flows from the application of sure and settled principles to proved or admitted facts". Professor M.D. A. Freeman, Professor of Law, at the University of London, in his essay "Family Matters" argues that Lord Denning "has a knack, close at times to deceit, of paying lip service to precedent while not really complying with it". Professor J.P.W.B. McAuslan in his essay "Land, Planning and Housing" voices a standard orthodox legal criticism of Lord Denning that "he was not consistent; his colleagues, the legal profession and their clients did not know where his fancy was going to take him next". Claire Palley, Principal, St. Anne's College, Oxford, in her admirably written essay "Lord Denning and Human Rights — Reassertion of the Right to Justice" argues that Lord Denning had "jaundiced views" about certain categories of persons whom he believed either behaved unlawfully or badly or were prone to do so. Equally in the book there is much praise of Lord Denning. Claire Palley in her essay concludes her assessment of Lord Denning by using an equine metaphor: " No rider he of any unruly horse or policy; he was a great steed taking the bit between his teeth and thundering down the tract to law reform and his just result while the other nags, observing the rules, never got out of the starting gate". Professor Heuston in his preceptively balanced essay "Lord Denning, The Man and his Times" concludes that in 900 years of the common law, Lord Denning is a phenomenon. Lord Devlin PC has written the Foreword to the book and Lord Hailsham of St. Marylebone, Lord Chancellor, has writen the Epilogue. The editors of the book set themselves the task of making an interim assessment on Lord Denning. They succeeded in their task. A fuller assessment of Lord Denning will have to await the passage of time. This book will be of interest to those interested in the law and the role of a judge in a common law jurisdiction. Eamonn G. Hall

Lord Denning: the Judge and the Law edited by J.L. Jowell and J.P.W.B. McAuslan. Published by Sweet & Maxwell, 486pp £25.00 Sterling — Hardback. Lord Denning started his professional career as a shy and nervous barrister. At Oxford University he joined the Debating Society but never spoke there. In "The Discipline of Law", Lord Denning tells of the nervous- ness he experienced as a Junior Counsel and later as a King's Counsel before a case would start. He admits that he was anxious to win and so tense that his voice became too high-pitched. These confessions have encouraged many a fledgling Solicitor and Barrister about to address a Court or Tribunal. Despite his nervousness, Lord Denning did not turn into a timorous soul. Lord Denning was and is a bold spirit. He became a harbinger of, and a catalyst for, reform. He claimed in "The Family Story" that the jargon of the philosophers of the law had always been beyond him. Yet he did have a legal philosophy. In his extra judicial writings, Lord Denning succinctly described his judicial philosophy: "My root belief is that the proper role of the judge is to do justice between the parties before him. If there is any rule of law which impairs the doing of justice, then it is the province of the judge to do all that he legitimately can to avoid the rule — or even change it — so as to do justice in the instant case before him". Is this the definition of the great Judge? Louis Jaffe's definition in "English and American Judges and Law makers" (Clarendon Oxford 1969) comes to mind: "The great judge was great because when the occasion cried out for a new law he dared to make it. He was great because he was aware that the law is a living organism, its vitality dependent upon renewal". Lord Reid has argued in "The Judge as Law Maker" 12 J.S.P.T.L. (1972) 22 that there was a time when it was thought almost indecent to suggest that judges made law. They only declared it. Lord Reid commented: "We do not believe in fairy tales any more". The need for some element of creativity in a Judge was echoed by Mr. Justice Brian Walsh in his Foreword to O'Reilly and Redmond's "Cases and Materials on the Irish Constitution": "In the field of constitutional law and indeed sometimes in other areas of the law, there are demands for a creative judiciary to operate upon subjects which governments shirk". In "Lord Denning, the Judge and the Law", leading academics critically assess Lord Denning's contribution to an influence upon the law. The essayists focus attention on the creativity of Lord Denning and his passion for doing justice between the parties. Essays cover such subjects as — The Man and his Times; Contract and Tort; Equity and Trusts, Family Matters; Land, Planning and Housing; Administrative Law; Human Rights and Labour Law. Words are not minced. D.J. Hayton, Fellow, Jesus College, Cambridge, in his essay "Equity

Visit to Aras an Uachtaráin The President, Mr. Anthony E. Collins, was received by Uachtarán na hEireann on Friday, 18 January, 1985. The President was accompanied by Mr. Donal G. Binchy, Junior Vice President, and Mr. James J. Ivers, Director General. Mr. Laurence Cullen, Senior Vice President was unable to travel to Dublin for the occasion, due to weather conditions.

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