The UK's longest serving Court of Appeal judge is causing a bit of stir in English legal circles. As part of a series of lectures, Sir John Laws (high courts judges automatically obtain a title upon appointment to the court)
said, "I have, in common with others, come to think that this approach
[treating Strasbourg decisions as authoritative] represents an important
wrong turning in our law." Coverage by the Guardian also notes:
Laws, the longest-serving lord justice of appeal, questioned an
important principle laid down nearly 10 years ago by Lord Bingham, who
was then senior law lord.
In a case called Ullah,
Bingham had said that the correct interpretation of the convention
could be authoritatively expounded only by the human rights court in
Strasbourg. "The meaning of the convention should be uniform throughout
the states [that are] party to it," Bingham added.
But Laws
disagreed. "There may perfectly properly be different answers to some
human rights issues in different states on different facts. I think the
Strasbourg court should recognise this."
The
remainder of the article is worth the read.
