A shout from the rooftops

Let it be shouted from the rooftops; there is no impersonal law distinct from the law that judges have made and will yet make. Once it is accepted that there is no impersonal law it must also be accepted that there is no ‘right’ answer. As there is no impersonal law it is immature for judges to keep thinking and behaving as if there were such an impersonal law. Similarly, as there is no ‘right’ answer, it is equally immature to keep thinking and behaving as if there were a ‘right’ answer. Judges can do no more than harness and manage their intelligence and capabilities so as to provide the best answer possible in the circumstances of the case. As an increasing number of judges obtain a sound conception of the judicial role, the best answer, I believe, will be one that seeks to render justice in the individual case and meet the contemporary needs and expectations of society.

The notion that there is an impersonal law crumbles once it is accepted that there is no law hovering in the heavens waiting to be declared and that, in fact, judges constantly make and remake law. As society is in a constant state of flux so, too, the law is constantly in motion as judges, or some judges, strive to keep abreast of society's needs and expectations. This process, as already observed, represents the irrevocable dynamic of the common law.