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11 August 2023 / Charles Wynn-Evans
Issue: 8037 / Categories: Features , Profession
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Book review: Lord Denning: Life, Law & Legacy

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"In this book, James Wilson takes on very successfully the challenge of drawing together Lord Denning’s upbringing, background, influences, and career with the legal and political significance of his judicial work"

Author: James Wilson

Publisher: Wildy, Simmonds and Hill Publishing

ISBN: 9780854902941

RRP: £30

Lord Bingham described Lord Denning as ‘the best-known and best-loved judge of this, or perhaps any, generation… cherished by his countless friends on the Bench, at the Bar and among the wider public throughout the Commonwealth.’ Whether talking of village cricket or the incoming tide of European law, what James Wilson describes in this biography as Lord Denning’s unique homely writing style is, of course, legendary, and his relentless focus on (his view of) justice in the particular case continues to attract much admiration.

Nonetheless, Lord Denning remains a controversial figure for many reasons, including his approach to judicial decision-making and disregard for stare decisis, as well as his various extraordinary—particularly by modern standards—judicial and extra-judicial observations, including describing homosexuality as a ‘cult’,

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