Rules of law
Judicial office-holders are bound by their oath and subject to the guidance contained in the “Principles and Ethics”.
It would appear that by taking the oath, a process of ascendancy occurs whereby judges, unlike the rest of us, bask in a cloud of permanently untainted integrity – ergo there is no need for a register of judges’ interests.
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Hide AdThe purification process that impliedly inheres in the very essence of the oath apparently imbues judges with an almost divine persona which ensures that if ever a judge is confronted with a case involving one of his “interests”, he would not have to recuse himself because (thanks to the oath) he is swathed in a cloud of unimpeachable integrity – a place where the possibility of bias is forever banished.
An annual Nobel prize awaits the genius who can dissect the mysterious qualities of the oath, qualities that appear to deify our judges – and therefore justify their haughty refusal to register their interests.
Thomas Crooks
Dundas Street