“The trouble for a judge who wants to give an interesting or challenging lecture on a controversial point of law is that he may be disqualifying himself from subsequently determining the issue on the ground that he is parti pris. I have always wondered whether that was really a justified concern. The reasons for my scepticism are essentially twofold. In the first place, we all know that judges are human – well, most of us are – and so everyone will appreciate that a judge will often have a preliminary, even a strong preliminary, opinion on an issue that he is trying. It could be said to be positively more consistent with open justice that such an opinion is known in advance rather than locked away in his brain …” (more)
Lord Neuberger, ‘The Remedial Constructive Trust – Fact or Fiction’. Speech at the Banking Services and Finance Law Association Conference, Queenstown, 10 August 2014.
First posted 2014-08-13 13:05:06
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