Roger Partridge: Supreme Court surprise in climate change case

‘Hard cases make bad law’ is a common legal adage. It means the more worthy a cause, the more tempting it will be for a court to stretch the law to make it fit.

Whether the expansion of the law is “bad” is a question on which views will vary, including the views of particular courts and judges.

The Supreme Court’s decision in the Smith case, handed down last week on more or less the Supreme Court’s 20th anniversary, is a new touchstone for this debate.