Judgment-Writing: An Academic Perspective

Abstract

This paper was presented to a seminar for the judiciary. It examines the question, what are legal academics looking for in a good judgment? From an academic perspective, what is good judicial writing style? It stresses the importance of the 3Cs (clarity, coherence and conciseness) and examines why judgment-writing is a particularly difficult form of legal writing. It goes on to consider whether shorter judgments are possible but rejects the idea that there should be single judgments in civil cases in the UK Supreme Court. Finally it looks at the merits of a judge’s imposing his or her own style on a judgment.

Keywords: Judgments, legal writing