It is better that the law should be certain than that every judge should speculate upon improvements in it.
Attribution disputed; shown as originally published.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Legal certainty is more important than judges trying to improve the law through personal speculation.
- In plain terms
- Stable laws are better than unpredictable changes.
- What can you take from it?
- Predictability in law prevents chaos.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Is stability more important than progress?
- How do you balance tradition and change?
Another view
It ignores the need for legal evolution.
More from John, 1st Earl of Eldon Scott
I always thought it better to allow myself to doubt before I decided, than to expose myself to the misery, after I had decided, of doubting whether I had decid…
Permalink to quote #2 I was with you, Mr. Scott-till I heard your argument.
Permalink to quote #3
Related quotes
I will rule them by fixed laws so that rest and happiness shall prevail in the world.
Genghis KhanGenghis Khan quote #2 Laws, like houses, lean on one another.
Edmund BurkeEdmund Burke quote #2 A justices tenir et a droitures soies loiaus et roides a tes sougiez, sans tourner a destre ne a senestre, mais ades a droit, et soustien la querelle dou povre…
Louis IX of FranceLouis IX of France quote #3