Free Law Dissertations - Most People Hold Views One Way Or The Other On Whether Hunting
Brief
Title: ‘ most people hold views one way or the other on whether hunting should be banned. But our personal views are wholly irrelevant to the drier and more technical question which the court is obliged to answer’ (per Bingham MR in R. Somerset CC ex parte Fewings). Drawing upon relevant case law and academic commentary to what extent do you agree with Lord Bingham that the ‘personal views’ of the judiciary are wholly irrelevant to answering questions of law?
I. Introduction
One of the main aspects of the legal proceedings is with no doubt the procedure of the formulation and the publication of the decision. The main scope of the law is of course the restoration of the truth and the justice, but during the hearing of a case, it is the final judgment that characterizes the efforts done, not the legal thinking that was applied in the specific case. Moreover, the rules that are contained in the decision present an outline of the legal reasoning that was applied in a specific case, having at the same time the power to enforce their application through certain types of measures as they are described in the text of the decision.
The role of the judge to the whole legal system is of a major importance. In particularly, when coming to a conclusion for a specific case, the judge has primarily to distinguish the law orders that are applicable in this occasion, from his personal view. However, on a next level he should try to explain the former using the latter to the level that such a legal interpretation is accepted from the provisions of law that have to be used in the specific occasion. In any case, the choice of the legal rules that have to be applied takes place through the examination of the facts that are related to a case. The nature, the timing and the mutual connection of these facts usually define which provisions are most suitable to cover the actions, which are under examination. The possible influence of a judge’s personal view can occur during the stage of interpretation of the rules that were defined as applicable in the specific case. The problem that usually arises when coming to the latter level, is that the structure and the principles of the personal view are by nature different among the members of the judiciary. The most important consequence of this reality is the usual difference of interpretation of the same legal rules even concerning the same case.
II. Position and power of the judiciary in the English Law
The role and the obligations of each member of the judiciary is defined primarily in the Constitution and in a next level in the Human Rights Act of 1998 (as they have been amended through a series of relevant Acts).
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