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07 October 2016 / Dominic Regan
Issue: 7717 / Categories: Features , Profession
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Judging the judges

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Dominic Regan regards written judgments from the bizarre to the sublime

“Reading and writing boring judgments” was the obstacle to recreation that Lord Justice Ward identified in his entry in Who’s Who. He does himself a great injustice. So many of his decisions, the dreaded Carver v BAA plc [2008] EWCA Civ 412, [2008] 3 All ER 911 apart, read beautifully and ooze commonsense.

I spend my days reading judgments. A good one should be like a short story or even a novella. The problem(s) should be identified, the submissions summarised and then the decision given, supplying a way through the woods.

Denning delights

Anyone who has read a Denning judgment will surely recall that lovely narrative style.”Broadchalke is one of the most pleasing villages in England. Old Herbert Bundy was a farmer there. His home was at Yew Tree Farm. It went back for 300 years. His family had been there for generations. It was his only asset. But he did a very foolish thing. He mortgaged it to the bank.

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NEWS
Talk of a reserved ‘Welsh seat’ on the Supreme Court is misplaced. In NLJ this week, Professor Graham Zellick KC explains that the Constitutional Reform Act treats ‘England and Wales’ as one jurisdiction, with no statutory Welsh slot
The government’s plan to curb jury trials has sparked ‘jury furore’. Writing in NLJ this week, David Locke, partner at Hill Dickinson, says the rationale is ‘grossly inadequate’
A year after the $1.5bn Bybit heist, crypto fraud is booming—but so is recovery. Writing in NLJ this week, Neil Holloway, founder and CEO of M2 Recovery, warns that scams hit at least $14bn in 2025, fuelled by ‘pig butchering’ cons and AI deepfakes
After Woodcock confirmed no general duty to warn, debate turns to the criminal law. Writing in NLJ this week, Charles Davey of The Barrister Group urges revival of misprision or a modern equivalent
Family courts are tightening control of expert evidence. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Chris Pamplin says there is ‘no automatic right’ to call experts; attendance must be ‘necessary in the interests of justice’ under FPR Pt 25
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