Temples of Justice are the ultimate hope for those in the quest for Justice, which needs to be delivered by well reasoned Judgments within the parameters of law. There is no clear cut formula for writing a judgment. In the writing of a judgment the supreme virtue for every judge however should be clarity and precision and consistency. Nobody being above the law, judges should while dispensing justice be blind to the social status or financial standing of the parties to the litigation. Caste, creed and other considerations should never be taken into account except the Rule of law.
The foremost duty of every judge is to deliver a rational judgment. At the start of one’s judicial career some judges rightly adopt the traditional way of writing judgments. Years of experience and a little innovation can improve the quality of their writing.
Judgment-writing is indeed an art. There are judges who are highly technical in their approach and have no mind for justice. At the other end of the spectrum are those whose sense of justice totally overrides the bounds of law. Both these paths are unacceptable. The Judge must always try to render justice but that does not permit him to transgress the limitations of the law. Drawing the line is not normally difficult except in very rare cases.
It is said that judges have their own personal pre determined view on various issues. It is presumed that some judges are pro-landlord or pro-tenant, pro-individual rights as against community interests, or pro-women/children as against men, pro-labour or pro-management. No doubt Judges are human and their family background, education or environment may influence their decision-making process. But over a period, the Judge must detach himself from these fixations and keep the oath of his office in mind and decide every case strictly in accordance with law and the set principles of justice.
Lord Justice Templeman divided Judges into three categories on the basis of their judgments. The three categories being philosophers, the scientists and the advocates. He had said that all these three elements were present in Lord Denning’s judgments. If all Judges were like Lord Denning we would have had an ideal situation.
