NCJ Number
100716
Journal
Victoria University of Wellington Law Review Volume: 15 Issue: 1 Dated: (January 1985) Pages: 46-52
Date Published
1985
Length
7 pages
Annotation
New Zealand judges have a constitutional role to interpret law in particular cases so as to do justice in the context of changing social values and structures, subject to certain parameters.
Abstract
The judge's role in dispensing innovative interpretations of the law in changing social and economic situations is limited by the content of the cases brought before them. A second constraining factor is precedent set by case law which is designed to produce predictability and stability in the adjudication of cases. A third constraint is judicial awareness that only elected officials, being accountable to the public through elections, have primary power to make public policy. A final constraint is judicial awareness that judges' attitudes are not inherently representative of a cross section of society. In controversial decisions that depart from previous court policy, judges should provide detailed reasoning for their decisions, arguing from commonly held values and citing overriding social goals with which the public can identify. 3 footnotes.