Bar Conference speech, November 2013

"There can be no doubt that our legal system is much admired throughout the world. For example, continental lawyers, academics and judges, although they may occasionally speak with amusement about our system of common law, look generally with admiration at our legal system for its independence, for its professionalism and for the fact that it has been the essential underpinning of our democratic way of life and our general prosperity for hundreds of years. Ours is a system that has adapted and changed, keeping pace with developments, whilst not being constricted by them. Often we look back with admiration at what our predecessors may have done, though not always for the right reasons; on occasions we question what they have done, though no doubt they were prompted by what they thought at the time were the right reasons."