Coda

• Author: Michael Plaxton
• Pages: 551-561

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CODA

In a book this long, it may seem self-indulgent to bother with a con-

clusion. Before wrapping up, though, it is worth saying a few things

about my three theses.

A. BENDING TOWARDS SOVEREIGNTY

First and foremost, I have sought to show that judges regard them-

selves as constrained in how they interpret criminal oences and

how they develop the law concerning defences and incapacity. At

bottom, these constraints are grounded in a commitment to the

separation of powers, and in the idea that criminal oences reect

Parliament’s attempt to provide authoritative guidance to citizens. In

exercising their legitimate — indeed crucial — constitutional role,

judges sometimes step out of bounds. A judge might sometimes sug-

gest that they have the power simply not to apply the law to “triing”

violations, inferring too much from the interpretive presumption of

restraint. Faced with intractable interpretive problems and ambi-

guity in the statutory text, a court might resort to claims that Parlia-

ment intended to empower judges to expand the ambit of a criminal

oence. A court might strike down legislation on the basis that

 See the discussion in Chapter .

 See the discussion in Chapters  and .