"Denning retired in 1982 aged 83 when Lord Hailsham, the Lord Chancellor, said of him that it was given to few to be a legend in their own lifetime. He said that Denning's strength lay in his rugged independence and unwillingness to tolerate injustice or pettifogging technicalities in any form. The Times wrote that he had legal genius and a laudable mission to make the law accord with justice. This great judge had a passion for justice and was a doughty defender of the individual and the unprivileged. He sought to protect the common man against abuse of power, whether by the State, the Trade Unions, or the great corporations. He did what he could to help deserted wives. In 1963 the Public Orator at Cambridge said "This man considers that the rigours of laws and precedent should be tempered by human feeling for 'He who clings to the letter is clinging to a cork.' " He was sensitive to what ordinary people thought and had the common touch."
The Jurisprudence of Lord Denning: A Study in Legal History consists of three volumes: Fiat Justitia: Lord Denning and the Common Law; The Last of England: Lord Denning’s Englishry and the Law and Freedom under the Law: Lord Denning as Master of the Rolls, 1962–1982. Each volume considers a different aspect of Lord Denning’s jurisprudence. Fiat Justitia is concerned with Lord Denning’s place in the common law tradition, as defined by Fortescue, Coke and Blackstone. Particular attention is paid to Lord Denning’s approach to the role of the Judge and the use of judicial discretion in relation to precedent, statutory interpretation, individual rights and control of the abuse of power. The Last of England looks at the role of Englishness in the jurisprudence of Lord Denning, setting his approach to equity, in particular the way in which he developed the doctrine of estoppel, immigration and race and the law of the European Community in the context of the developing debate about the nature of English identity. Freedom under the Law sets the jurisprudence of Lord Denning in the context of the history of the 1960s and 1970s; examining his writings about the law, role in the Profumo affair and treatment of themes such as religion, literature, education, the currency, the Empire, the Union, national security, social change, industrial conflict and the role of the City of London. The trilogy provides a comprehensive analysis of the work of one of the most important judges of the twentieth century set in its historical, political and philosophical context. In the course of preparing this work, each of the 1072 judgments of Lord Denning, as reported in the All England Law Reports for the years 1962 to 1982, was considered, together with all the books about the law which he published while sitting as a judge.
Writing about Lord Denning in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Lord Goff wrote that ‘Denning was a great master of the common law….he was one of the greatest and most influential judges ever to sit on the English bench….few would dispute that Denning was the greatest English judge of the twentieth century’. Lord Goff added that Lord Denning ‘taught the English judiciary that the common law cannot stand still [but] must be capable of development on a case by case basis; to ensure that the principles of the common law are apt to do practical justice in a living society’. Fiat Justitia is concerned with Lord Denning’s place in the common law tradition, as defined by Fortescue, Coke and Blackstone. Lord Denning’s approach to the role of the Judge, and the use of judicial discretion, set in the context of the common law tradition, and the assessments of his contemporaries, is evaluated with particular attention being paid to his understanding of precedent, statutory interpretation, individual rights and control of the abuse of power. Lord Denning’s jurisprudence, as an expression of the common law tradition, is also considered in relation to current developments in the law.
When Lord Denning died in 1999, the leader writer of the Daily Telegraph wrote of ‘a deep and almost tangible ‘Englishness’ which ‘shone through many of Lord Denning’s celebrated judgments. He was patriotic, sceptical and humane; intelligent without being intellectual’. Since 1999, the nature of English identity has become the subject of debate and contention, not only within the academy, but also in politics and the media. In some respects, it could be argued that the debate about English identity is one of the most important in contemporary Britain. The Last of England considers the role of Englishness in the jurisprudence of Lord Denning, setting his conception of the role of the judiciary in the constitution, his views about the nature of history, the land and war, his understanding of equity, in particular the way in which he developed the doctrine of estoppel, his attitudes towards immigration and race and his approach to the law of the European Community in the context of the developing debate about the nature of English identity.
Although he retired over a decade ago, Lord Denning remains Britain's best known and, to many, most controversial judge. As Master of the Rolls, a position he occupied for 20 years, he saw his job as the making of law, not merely the interpretation of it, and he gave judgments which placed the judiciary at the centre of political and social change.
In his book Law and Politics: The House of Lords as a Judicial Body 1800-1976 Robert Stevens wrote that Lord Denning was ‘certainly the most interesting and possibly the most important English judge of the twentieth century’. Stevens also suggested that Lord Denning was one of the ‘few English judges who clearly merits an extensive intellectual biography’. Freedom under the Law essays this task by setting the jurisprudence of Lord Denning in the context of the history of the 1960s and 1970s; assessing his writings about the law and examining his role in the Profumo affair and other major political and legal controversies of that era. Lord Denning’s approach to matters such as religion, education, the currency, the Empire, the Union, national security, the status of aliens and foreigners, social change, the family, the rights of trades unions and the role of the courts in the regulation of industrial conflict and the City of London are examined in the course of a detailed consideration of the judgments which he handed down in the Court of Appeal between 1962 and 1982.
From the author’s Introduction: As this book’s subtitle has it, it’s a “potpourri.” That expression can be defined as “a mixture of dried petals and spices placed in a bowl to perfume a room.” But, having just published—at New Reformation Press—a little culinary masterpiece (A Gastronomic Vade-Mecum), I am thinking in terms of the secondary definition: “an unusual or interesting mixture of ingredients.” Either way, you will surely enjoy this collection of essays. They are unusual and interesting—and they will perfume your thinking as to ultimate issues. A sampling of essays in the present collection: • Resurrection and Legal Evidence • Did Jesus Physically Rise from the Dead? • Chronological Contradictions in the Gospels? • A More Consistent Application of Literary “Higher Criticism” • A Short and Easie Method with Postmodernists • Law & Morality: Friends or Foes? • Demon Possession: A Brief Commentary • Transhumanism? • Muslims As Two-Faced • The Stereotypic Clergyman • On Innovative Theologians • Racism in American Lutheranism • Do Christian Children lose Contact with Reality? • Those Who Have Not Heard the Gospel: A Construct • Terrorism and Revolution: Are They Ever Justified? Professor Montgomery, who is an American, British, and French citizen and who resides in Strasbourg, France, is a polymath, the author of more than 60 books in 5 languages, and a world-renowned defender of classic Christian faith. His credentials include: • Ph.D. (U. Chicago), D.Théol. (U. Strasbourg, France), LL.D. (Cardiff U., Wales), plus 8 other academic degrees. • Professor Emeritus of Law and Humanities, University of Bedfordshire (U.K.); Distinguished Professor-at-Large, 1517: The Legacy Project (California, U.S.A.); Director, International Academy of Apologetics, Evangelism and Human Rights (Strasbourg, France). • Barrister-at-Law (England and Wales); Avocat à la Cour (Paris); Member of the California, District of Columbia, Virginia, and Washington State bars, and the bar of the Supreme Court of the United States; Certified Fraud Examiner. • Honorary Chairman, Academic Board, International Institute for Religious Freedom, World Evangelical Fellowship. Websites: www.jwm.christendom.co.uk, www.apologeticsacademy.eu, www.newreformationpress.com/jwm-books, www.newreformationpress.com/jwm-audio
In the absence of a sound conception of the judicial role, judges at present can be said to be 'muddling along'. They disown the declaratory theory of law but continue to behave and think as if it had not been discredited. Much judicial reasoning still exhibits an unquestioning acceptance of positivism and a 'rulish' predisposition. Formalistic thinking continues to exert a perverse influence on the legal process. This 2005 book dismantles these outdated theories and seeks to bridge the gap between legal theory and judicial practice. The author propounds a coherent and comprehensive judicial methodology for modern times. Founded on the truism that the law exists to serve society, and adopting the twin criteria of justice and contemporaneity with the times, a judicial methodology is developed which is realistic and pragmatic and which embraces a revised conception of practical reasoning, including in that conception a critical role for legal principles.
