"Elephants and the Law" by Dean Knight: June 2011

19 June 2011

I've been following with interest, and some dismay, the coverage of St Pat's decision to prevent boys from taking other boys to the school ball:

- DomPost: "School denies pupil bringing boy to ball"

The School's position was invidious, mean-spirited, unjustified and - I think - unlawful.

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Lord Justice Lawton in Maxwell v Department of Trade and Industry [1974] 2 All ER 122 said:

"From time to time ... lawyers and judges have tried to define what constitutes fairness. Like defining an elephant, it is not easy to do, although fairness in practice has the elephantine quality of being easy to recognise. As a result of these efforts a word in common usage has acquired the trappings of legalism: 'acting fairly' has become 'acting in accordance with the rules of natural justice', and on occasion has been dressed up with Latin tags. This phrase in my opinion serves no useful purpose and in recent years it has encouraged lawyers to try to put those who hold inquiries into legal straitjackets.... For the purposes of my judgment I intend to ask myself this simple question: did the [decision-maker] act fairly towards the plaintiff?"

This course examines the elephantine concept of fairness in the law, along with other contemporary legal issues.

19 June 2011

Same-sex prom kings, cornrows and school rules

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