Across the United Kingdom, judges see tens of thousands of legal cases every day, and as these cases are a matter of public record, judgements are written and published for people to see.
Many of these, such as solicitors in Epsom will look at via resources such as BAILII, are typically straightforward statements of fact, relevant case law and previous decisions that ultimately lead to a judgement in a case.
However, this is not always the case, as many judges and justices will often use rhetoric and literary devices that turn what could have been a relatively straightforward legal passage into something, memorable, poetic and quoted even outside the legal world.
With that in mind, here are some of the most literary passages uttered in a court of law.
Healthcare at Home Limited v The Common Services Agency
This 2014 case concerning a failed tender and the breach of contractual duties is often quoted not only in cases related to contract law but in a wide variety of cases beyond this.
Instead, it is Lord Reed’s opening paragraphs that have become exceptionally commonly quoted for explaining one of the most curious principles in legal history; the “Man on the Clapham Omnibus”.
It is the rather lucid and poetic description of the “reasonable man” concept that is often applied as a legal standard by the court in issues of understanding and comprehension, in cases such as negligence.
Clapham during the Victorian era when the original term was coined was chosen because it was a relatively ordinary middle-class district where people were expected to have a reasonable level of education and intellect.
Miller V Jackson
Better known as the village cricket case, Lord Denning’s judgement features one of the most commonly quoted legal passages in history and one that is commonly quoted by law students.
The case involved a house bought by the Miller family next to a cricket ground that had been playing for 70 years. Despite attempts at an agreement by Lintz Cricket Club, the Millers sued to try and stop cricket from being played on the ground.
The passage this led Lord Dennings to write should be read in full but from the pastoral image of the well-kept cricket field that everyone delights in during the summer months, to describing how cattle grazing in a field “did not mind” the sport being played.
Ultimately, the Millers moved house soon after the case.
Owens V Owens
One of the most recent legal cases to set a major precedent, Owens v Owens, the saga of its truly unhappy marriage within and the melancholic way in which the appeal had to be rejected due to the law as written led to the end of the contested divorce system and the adoption of no-fault divorce.
There were many withering passages in the verdict, from the evocation of Dodd v Dodd [1906], the whole of paragraph 89 that described just how slow the progress of marriage equality really was, as well as questioning the reasons why Mr Owens refused to consent to a divorce, effectively trapping Mrs Owens in this situation.
The end of paragraph 84 is arguably the most memorable, bleakly describing Mrs Owens as being “totally without remedy” as the law stands.
