David Wurtzel practised at the criminal Bar for 27 years and is a door tenant at 18 Red Lion Court. Prior to his retirement, he was a consultant in the CPD department at City Law School and consultant editor of Counsel. David is a member of the Counsel Editorial Board.
What happens when the judiciary in young democracies seeks to apply result-orientated judgments to the emotional evaluation of a particular case? South Africa’s Supreme Court of Appeal has had to deal with two such cases. David Wurtzel reports on Mr Justice Harms’ speech to CEBA.
When does judging become irrational? When it reaches a conclusion and then looks for the reasons to justify it. On 8 June Mr Justice Harms, the Deputy President of South Africa’s Supreme Court of Appeal (“SCA”), gave a speech to the Commonwealth in England Barristers’ Association (“CEBA”) on how creative judging or result-orientated judgments—ie reaching a conclusion and then looking for the reasons to justify it—has been used in an emerging democracy with reference to two specific cases before the SCA. The following is an extract from his speech.
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