Something a bit unusual this morning: a chance to watch a 20-minute interview with the greatest judge of his generation. You can see my discussion with Lord Bingham here.
And this article in today’s Law Society Gazette includes extracts from the interview, as well as explaining that it was recorded to raise funds for the planned Bingham Centre for the Rule of Law. Reporters will find a full transcipt here.
There are not many retired chief justices who can chat so engagingly about the rule of law – the nearest thing we had, he said, to a “universal, secular religion”.
But some people, I suggested, felt that the rule of law was enforced by minorities at the expense of the majority.
Lord Bingham accepted that human rights charters were there to protect minorities because, to a large extent, majorities could look after themselves. But he pointed out that the European Court had said ‘time and time again’ that there needed to be a balance between the rights of the individual and the rights of the community.
Watch the interview here or below and judge for yourself.
