JB/028/139/004

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8)

Common Law. Judicial Decisions.

permanent rule, which it is not in the breast of any
subsequent judge to alter or vary from, according to his
private sentiments: he being sworn to determine, not
according to his own private judgment (No? not according
to his own private judgement ?) but according to
the known laws and customs of the land; not deligated
to pronounce a new law, but to maintain and expound
the old one. Our⊞ ⊞ Not according to his own private judgment, but according to the known laws and customs of the land .... What our Author means to say, by this I take
it, is, that a Judge is to determine according to what
is his private judgment, not concerning what would
be expedient were there no prior decisions relative to
the matter, but concerning what is expedient now that
there are such and such decisions have gone before, taking
into the account of expedience, the uncertainty that would
result from the departing from those decisions, and the
mischief the inexpedience that would result from that
uncertainty.

Not delegated to pronounce a new Law, but to maintain
and expound the old one. He would have spoken
more exactly, I take it, and instructively, had
he said, to pronounce a Law decision which must indeed
be new, but which [concerning] right to there are is very cogent reasons
[why it] should ought to be [as much as possible] upon the
pattern of the old.

To this rule however he tells us there is an exception:
which exception he would have us suppose he had has described
in such manner that we may know it when it occurrs

Identifier: | JB/028/139/004 "JB/" can not be assigned to a declared number type with value 28.
Date_1		Marginal Summary Numbering
Box	028	Main Headings	comment on the commentaries
Folio number	139	Info in main headings field	common law judicial decisions
Image	004	Titles
Category	text sheet	Number of Pages	4
Recto/Verso	recto	Page Numbering	b5 / e6 / b7 / e8
Penner	jeremy bentham	Watermarks	[[watermarks::[monogram] [britannia emblem]]]
Marginals		Paper Producer
Corrections		Paper Produced in Year
Notes public		ID Number	9404
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