AIKINS JSC.
Lord Patrick Devlin in his renowned book entitled The Judge (1979) at p 4 stated:
"If a judge leaves the law and makes his own decision, even if in substance they are just, he loses the protection of the law and sacrifices the appearance of impartiality which is given by adherence to the law. He expresses himself personally to the dissatisfied litigant and exposes himself to criticism. But if the stroke is inflicted by law, it leaves no sense of individual injustice; the losing party is not a victim who has been singled out; it is the same for everybody he says. And how many a defeated litigant has salved his wounds with the thought that the law is an ass."
It is with these words of wisdom operating on my mind that I have set off on the journey of writing this opinion.
Introduction
On 7 February 1997 the plaintiff issued out a writ against the defendant claiming a declaration that:
"(i) on a true and proper interpretation of the Constitution, particularly articles 57(3), 5…