Peter Millett.

I have fancied myself as a keen amateur observer of the British Constitution, but my knowledge of the legal system is even less professional. I have been a tourist observer of some judges, both civil and criminal, and felt a mixture of respect and some anxiety. I have rather agreed with the idea that the less we know about judges as people, the better. And yet I fell on the memoir As in Memory Long (2017) by Lord Justice Peter Millett (1932-2021), with a will. It is deliberately but almost slyly revelatory. It was encountered by chance, but exerted a peculiar spell. Oddly, but above all, Millett was not a celebrity judge. He was not a Woolf, Hoffman, Sumption, Bingham or Lester and I prefer neglected byways to well-trodden highways. Perhaps that’s because I am struck that fame conduces to the performative. A couple of warnings. Peter Millett reveals himself to have had a certain pettiness in his nature. I have not skated over this. And I repeat: I am not equipped to judge him as a judge. Luckily, I have come across Colin Paterson, an excellent writer who is, and nearly does. Read more...