Pettit vs Pettit, 1970, AC 777, 794-795
Citation:Pettit vs Pettit, 1970, AC 777, 794-795
Rule of thumb:If there is no statute, Regulation, or in-point common-law case that applies to a situation what do you do? The Court has to extend the closest applicable common law principle to this scenario and create a case.
Judgment:
Principles and case-law from the common law can be applied to new situations which are generally the same. The common law does not have to be exactly in point for it to be applied by the Judge.
Ratio-decidendi:
‘Whatever views may have prevailed in the last century, I think that it is now widely recognised that it is proper for the Courts in appropriate cases to develop or adapt existing rules of the common law to meet new conditions. I say in appropriate cases because I think we ought to recognise a difference between cases where we are dealing with “lawyer’s law” and cases where we are dealing with matters which directly affect the lives and interests of large sections of the community and which raise issues which are the subject of public controversy and on which laymen are as able to decide as are lawyers.’ Lord Reid
Warning: This is not professional legal advice. This is not professional legal education advice. Please obtain professional guidance before embarking on any legal course of action. This is just an interpretation of a Judgment by persons of legal insight & varying levels of legal specialism, experience & expertise. Please read the Judgment yourself and form your own interpretation of it with professional assistance.