Alfred Thompson Denning was born on the 23rd of January in 1899. He would become one of Britain's most well known and one could argue most influential judges of the last century. Born in Whitechurch in Hampshire, Denning was the fourth son in a large family. His father, Charles Denning, was a draper and his mother, Clara, a school teacher. He led an uneventful childhood ultimately making his way to Magdalen College in Oxford beginning first with a 1st Class Degree in Mathematics, which after the initial year he suspended and entered the war and at the end of service was a 2nd Lieutenant in the 151st Field Company of the Royal Engineers. After a number of years teaching mathematics he returned to Magdalen College to study law. He was later made an honorary fellow for his achievements. It could be said that the straightforward, direct decisions for which Denning would later become famous can be attributed, in part, to his initial degree. Mathematics has a certain way of focusing the mind which must have reflected in his obvious intelligence and analytical mind. His judgements were often described as calculated, searching, and even once as unparalleled. He was known as "the people's judge" for his willingness to override precedent to do what he saw as justice and for his simply-worded judgments delivered in his then famous Hampshire Burr.
In 1923 Denning was then called to the bar and led a distunguised career until when in 1938 he "took silk" and became a King's Council where he attracted the attention of the then Lord Chancellor John Simon, 1st Viscount Simon during the case of United Australia Ltd. Vs. Barclays Bank Ltd. And was then Knighted and appointed a High Court Judge.
As the son of a draper, Lord Denning came from unusually humble beginnings for such a senior judge of his time. Especially at a time when the strong regional accent he possessed was seen as an obvious disqualification for the corridors of high judiciary, but when it was his skill, intelligence and obvious talent which took him to the High Court bench at only 45 years of age.
As a High Court Judge he became well known for his judgement, which frequently pushed the law in novel directions. Even in his early career his decision in the now world renowned High Trees Case brought him to the forefront of judicial reasoning for his innovative approach to legal reasoning when he developed the principle of equitable estoppel or promissory estoppel as applied to contractual law. However, Denning's doctrine as described above has been criticised by some legal academics, who argue that he had acted with little regard to the existing law of the country and that his ruling was a result of a resolution of his notion of justice and what is commonly conceived as justice. Many more have jumped to his defence claiming that his ruling had in fact many previous legal precedents. Drawn
in particular from a number of 19 Century cases and decisions made by the House of Lords. Whichever side of the fence you sit an undeniable fact remains, Denning's Doctrine has been applied throughout the worlds common law systems.
Fours years later he was made Lord Justice of Appeal and as a Privy Councillor. Then after a distinguished posting and ruling on a number of landmark cases he was made a Law Lord, and took his seat in the house of Lords in 1957. In the House of Lords Denning frequently came into conflict with the other judges and often delivered dissenting opinions. He came into public conflict with Viscount Simonds when citing cases not mentioned by counsel or other courts and received a magisterial rebuke for his unorthodox behaviour. Later, however, on a point of law where Denning stated that a state cannot cite sovereign immunity as a defence when engaged in commerce overruling Viscounts Simonds initial ruling. Baron Denning would sit for five years in the House of Lords before stepping down to the more influential position of Master of the Rolls. Denning joked of his stepping down - "To most lawyers on the bench, the House of Lords is like Heaven, You want to get there someday - but not while there is any life in you."
Denning requested to go back to the Court of Appeal in 1962, where he served until 1982 as the Master of the Rolls. Court of Appeal judges sit in threes, and the Lords in fives (or more), so it was suggested that to get his way in the Court of Appeal Denning only had to persuade one other judge whereas in the House of Lords it was at least two. The other 'benefit' of the Court of Appeal is that it hears more cases than the House of Lords, and so has a greater effect on the law. During his twenty years as Master of the Rolls, Denning could choose both which cases he heard, and the judges with whom he sat. Therefore, on most issues, he effectively had the last word; comparatively few cases went on to the House of Lords, Britain's highest court of law.
In 1963, Denning was appointed by then Prime Minister Harold Macmillan to look into the role of the police and security services in the Profumo affair. However, much of his report was devoted to an investigation of Stephen Ward, a man whom Denning alleged had catered for the "perverted tastes" of others. However, Ward was a relatively minor player in the affair. His only relation to it was in introducing the then Secretary of State for War John Profumo to Christine Keeler, with whom Profumo subsequently became intimately involved. When the scandal broke Lord Denning was asked to inquire into security aspects of the affair. He sat alone and in private, even sending the women shorthand-writers out because he thought some of the evidence was so disgusting. As Lord Denning himself remarked, his report was a best-seller. More than 100,000 people bought copies. It also put him firmly in the public eye. In an age when judges shunned publicity, Lord Denning became the one judicial figure everybody had heard of.
Even in rather mundane cases, Denning was able to see matters from a realistic or as some put it a common-sense perspective, often that of the man-on-the-street, which gave his opinions a "real-world" application. For instance, in Thornton v Shoe Lane Parking, the plaintiff drove to the defendant's car park and was given a ticket by an automatic machine, which stated that it was issued subject to conditions displayed inside the car park. The conditions inside the car park were in small print, and one of them excluded liability for damages to vehicles or injury to customers. The plaintiff was injured due partly to the defendant's negligence. The plaintiff was not held to be bound by the notice displayed inside the premises, as its existence was not made aware to the defendant prior to paying. Denning also stated that this particular clause was so wide and destructive of rights that, "In order to give sufficient notice, it would need to be printed in red ink with a red hand pointing to it - or something equally startling."
Lord Denning was more than simply a learned and gifted jurist. His judgments were sharp, pithy and full of mischief. Perhaps his most famous case was Miller v. Jackson or as it is far better known, The Cricket Case, with its well-known lyrical opening to Lord Denning's judgment, the first paragraph of which reads:
“In summertime village cricket is the delight of everyone. Nearly every village has its own cricket field where the young men play and the old men watch. In the village of Lintz in County Durham they have their own ground, where they have played these last 70 years. They tend it well. The wicket area is well rolled and mown. The outfield is kept short. It has a good club house for the players and seats for the onlookers. The village team play there on Saturdays and Sundays. They belong to a league, competing with the neighbouring villages. On other evenings after work they practise while the light lasts. Yet now after these 70 years a judge of the High Court has ordered that they must not play there any more. He has issued an injunction to stop them. He has done it at the instance of a newcomer who is no lover of cricket. This newcomer has built, or has had built for him, a house on the edge of the cricket ground which four years ago was a field where cattle grazed. The animals did not mind the cricket. But now this adjoining field has been turned into a housing estate. The newcomer bought one of the houses on the edge of the cricket ground. No doubt the open space was a selling point. Now he complains that when a batsman hits a six the ball has been known to land in his garden or on or near his house. His wife has got so upset about it that they always go out at week-ends. They do not go into the garden when cricket is being played. They say that this is intolerable. So they asked the judge to stop the cricket being played. And the judge, much against his will, has felt that he must order the cricket to be stopped: with the consequence, I suppose, that the Lintz Cricket Club will disappear. The cricket ground will be turned to some other use. I expect for more houses or a factory. The young men will turn to other things instead of cricket. The whole village will be much the poorer. And all this because of a newcomer who has just bought a house there next to the cricket ground.”
Notwithstanding the practical progression of the law reflected in Denning's decisions, his judicial activism has led to severe criticism in some quarters, largely on the basis that such refusal to follow precedent undermined the rule of law and produced uncertainty in the legal system. Although he was the last serving British judge not bound by a mandatory retirement age, Denning retired in 1982. He had written a book that year entitled What Next in the Law. In it, he seemed to suggest some members of the black community were unsuitable to serve on juries, and that immigrant groups may have had different moral standards to native Englishmen. His remarks followed a trial over the St Pauls riot in Bristol. Two jurors on the case threatened to sue him. Lord Denning was forced to back down and avoided further conflict by apologising. He then announced he would be retiring. Later editions of the book asserted Denning's commitment to representative juries and diversity.
But in seeking justice Lord Denning, considered himself entitled to get round - or even change - any rule of law that stood in his way. There was no need to wait for legislation. "Parliament does it too late," he argued. "It may take years and years before a statute can be passed to amend a bad law. "The judge ... should make the law correspond with the justice that the case requires." But Lord Denning's critics said his willingness to overturn decided cases made for uncertainty in the law. Although he saw himself as champion of the underdog - the ordinary citizen, the consumer, the deserted wife - he supported employers against trade unions, education authorities against students, and the Home Office against immigrants. Even in retirement he remained busy. He continued writing, including the books Landmarks in Law and Leaves from my Library.
But his comments in retirement added nothing to his reputation. Another apology followed his claim that the Guildford Four, acquitted on appeal after being jailed for an IRA bombing, were probably guilty of murder all along.
Lord Denning's prejudices demonstrated the risks of letting one man dispense justice. But they should not detract from a judicial career unique in our time. Tom Denning stood firm for freedom under the law, a phrase he coined. His whole life was devoted to justice. His creativity was immense and his legacy will last for as long as the law itself. His mind remained razor sharp despite old age. And as his epitaph he chose: "Remembrance of me in good works, that is how I should like to be remembered."
But in saying all this his legacy cannot be ignore. Lord Denning's approach was considered by some to be ground-breaking and he was not afraid to reconsider or depart from an established precedent. Creatively using his flexible approach and eloquent prose he shaped appellate law whilst following his primary interest: justice. He delivered over 2000 reported judgments and gave more lectures than any other judge. He became immensely popular among lawyers for his judgments, which often bent the law into interesting directions, and his unusual prose style in giving judgment in a broad Hampshire accent.
Many of Denning's persistent and resilient efforts to change the law were ultimately vindicated by the passage of time. In particular, he is famous for his inventive efforts in contract, negligence and the contentious balance between equity and common law. He tried to establish an abandoned wives' equity, protecting the rights of married women: He was initially disregarded, perhaps embarrassingly, but was only years later respectfully vindicated by Parliament in the Matrimonial Homes Act 1967. He also affirmatively opposed the use of small print exemption clauses, negligent mis-statements and was a pro-active mediator in situations of inequality of bargaining power. The well-respected scholar was also not afraid of invoking liability on established public authorities and he was, all the while, a pioneer and huge influence in the new-age world of promissory estoppel and the creative art of contractual interpretation
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Stay at Carlisle Bay Antigua for a holiday staycation.
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