Legal judgments aren’t known for being short and punchy, but that could be set to change, following calls for Court of Appeal judges to do away with writing that is unnecessarily long.
Legal judgments aren’t known for being short and punchy, but that could be set to change, following calls for Court of Appeal judges to do away with writing that is unnecessarily long.
Criticism has reportedly centred around some judgments being confusing, elitist, and even sometimes a waste of time and space. So, although the level of detail and legal discussion that is needed will vary from case to case, we could see far shorter judgments in the future; one example being just shy of 1,200 words, as opposed to others stretching into tens of thousands.
It will certainly be a break from tradition, and one that we think should help make law more accessible. Easily-digestible decisions? That has to be a good thing.
