Chief Justice of the Common Pleas and then the King's Bench, Coke insisted that even the King was under the law. In Dr Bonham's Case (1610) he suggested that courts could control Acts of Parliament contrary to common right and reason, and in the Case of Proclamations (1610) that the King could not create new offences by proclamation. He drafted the Petition of Right (1628), and his Institutes of the Lawes of England shaped legal education for centuries.
Dr Bonham's Case (1610).
Drafted the Petition of Right (1628).
Quick check: Who drafted the Petition of Right (1628)?
Sir Edward Coke
Francis Bacon
Matthew Hale
John Selden
Answer: A.
1561–1626
Francis Bacon
A Lord Chancellor impeached
Philosopher, essayist and Lord Chancellor of England, Francis Bacon was impeached by Parliament in 1621 for taking bribes from litigants. He admitted the charges, was fined and briefly imprisoned in the Tower, and never held office again.
Impeached for bribery in 1621.
1705–1793
Lord Mansfield
Father of English commercial law
As Lord Chief Justice (1756–88), William Murray, Lord Mansfield, integrated mercantile custom into the common law of contracts, insurance and negotiable instruments, earning the title "father of English commercial law". In Somerset v. Stewart (1772) he freed an enslaved man held on a ship in England.
Father of English commercial law.
Somerset v. Stewart (1772).
Quick check: Who is regarded as the father of English commercial law?
Lord Eldon
Lord Denning
Lord Mansfield
Sir Edward Coke
Answer: C.
1867–1944
Lord Atkin
The neighbour principle and a famous dissent
James Atkin, born in Australia, formulated the "neighbour principle" in Donoghue v. Stevenson (1932). In Liversidge v. Anderson (1941) he dissented alone against the detention of a man on the Home Secretary's mere belief, writing that "amid the clash of arms, the laws are not silent" and accusing his colleagues of being "more executive-minded than the executive".
Neighbour principle (1932).
Dissent in Liversidge v. Anderson (1941).
Quick check: Whose dissent in Liversidge v. Anderson (1941) declared that "amid the clash of arms, the laws are not silent"?
Lord Diplock
Lord Reid
Lord Atkin
Lord Denning
Answer: C.
1899–1999
Lord Denning
The people's judge
Alfred Thompson Denning was Master of the Rolls from 1962 to 1982, the most celebrated English judge of the 20th century, known for his vivid judgments and his readiness to bend precedent in the name of justice. He developed promissory estoppel (High Trees, 1947) and the deserted wife's equity. His books, such as The Discipline of Law and The Due Process of Law, are favourites of Indian law students.
Master of the Rolls, 1962–82.
Lived to 100.
Quick check: Lord Denning held which office from 1962 to 1982?
Senior Law Lord
Lord Chief Justice
Lord Chancellor
Master of the Rolls
Answer: D.
55 more entries under this heading
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Earl Warren · The Warren Court
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Clarence Darrow · Attorney for the damned
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Robert H. Jackson · Nuremberg prosecutor
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Hersch Lauterpacht · Crimes against humanity
René Cassin · Nobel for human rights
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Arthur Chaskalson · Rivonia to the Constitutional Court
Sir Matthew Hale · Wrote the History of the Pleas of the Crown
Lord Eldon · The Lord Chancellor of Chancery's notorious delays
Lord Hewart · Coined "justice must be seen to be done"
F.E. Smith, Lord Birkenhead · The wittiest advocate of his age
Sir Edward Marshall Hall · The "Great Defender"
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Lord Wilberforce · The two-stage Anns test for a duty of care
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Lord Neuberger · The second President of the UK Supreme Court
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Michael Kirby · Australian High Court judge and rights advocate
Beverley McLachlin · The first woman and longest-serving Chief Justice of Canada
Aharon Barak · Israel's "constitutional revolution" and the theory of proportionality
Asma Jahangir · Pakistan's fearless human rights lawyer
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William J. Brennan Jr. · The liberal architect of the Warren Court
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Sandra Day O'Connor · The first woman on the US Supreme Court
Antonin Scalia · The champion of originalism and textualism
Ketanji Brown Jackson · The first Black woman on the US Supreme Court
Johnnie Cochran · "If it doesn't fit, you must acquit"
Bryan Stevenson · Founded the Equal Justice Initiative
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Antonio Cassese · The first President of the ICTY
Richard Goldstone · The first Chief Prosecutor of the ICTY and ICTR
Luis Moreno Ocampo · The first Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court
Fatou Bensouda · The second Prosecutor of the ICC
PlusAll 60 entries, and every heading in the LibraryYours from ₹1,499, till CLAT 2028See Plus
