An outgoing chief justice?

Lord Burnett of Maldon remains cautious, almost to the last

It’s the final working day of the legal year, traditionally the judges’ last chance before heading off for the summer to deliver the judgments they have been working on for months.

In times gone by, hearings at the Royal Courts of Justice in London were scheduled at 15-minute intervals so that judges could rush from one courtroom to another. Court reporters, performing similar manoeuvres front-of-house, relied on their knowledge of the sprawling Victorian court complex — and of the court staff — to collect armfuls of rulings.

These days, most judgments are sent round by email: much more efficient, but rather less fun.

The lord chief justice’s court, with the jury box in the foreground

Knowing that some judges would already be on leave, Lord Burnett of Maldon delivered his valedictory remarks to a packed courtroom last Wednesday. But it was what the retiring lord chief justice didn’t say that that was most revealing.