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23 May 2014 / James Wilson
Issue: 7607 / Categories: Features
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Book review: A short book of bad judges

"Darling’s chief crime was what Bacon called a lack of gravity; for more modern readers he seems to have been something of a David Brent"

Author: Graeme Williams QC
Publisher: Wildy, Simmonds & Hill
ISBN: 9780854901418
Price: £9.99

In R v Sussex Justices; ex parte McCarthy [1924] 1 KB 256, 259, Lord Hewart LCJ famously said: “It is not merely of some importance but is of fundamental importance, that justice should not only be done, but should manifestly and undoubtedly be seen to be done.”

Best baddies?

The aphorism found its way into the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations . Ironically, while it might be one of the greatest legal quotes of the 20th century, it was made by one of the very worst judges. In 1985, Lord Devlin wrote ( Easing the Passing: the Trial of Dr John Bodkin Adams ): “Hewart…has been called the worst Chief Justice since Scroggs and Jeffries in the 17th century. I do not think that this is quite fair. When one considers

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NEWS
The government will aim to pass legislation banning leasehold for new flats and capping ground rent, introducing non-compulsory digital ID and creating a ‘duty of candour’ for public servants (also known as the Hillsborough law) in the next Parliament

An Italian financier has lost his bid to block his Australian wife from filing divorce papers in England on the basis it was no longer her domicile of choice

Reforms to the disclosure regime in the business and property courts have not achieved their objectives, lawyers have warned
The Law Society has urged ministers to hold a public consultation on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the justice system as a whole
Ministers have proposed bringing inquest work under a single fee scheme for legal help and advocacy legal aid work
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