zirconium. After the marriage, the wife sought to void a prenuptial agreement
on the basis of the lie about the ring. In resolving the case, the judge
composed and recited the following poem where justice was meted with metre:
A groom must expect matrimonial pandemonium
When his spouse finds he's given her a cubic zirconium
Given their history and Pygmalion relation
I find here reliance with justification.
257
In the dispute about using humour WS Gilbert reflects the view that it is
inappropriate by referring disdainfully to “that nisi prius
nuisance” the
“judicial humorist”.
258
The problem is that humour may suggest to the parties
that a judge has treated their litigation “lightly or flippantly”.
259
It can give the
impression that “the judge does not take his or her duties seriously”.
260
Further, the main function of writing judgments is not to add to the “gaiety of
nations” or to “the public stock of harmless fun”.
261
Indeed the view that humour has no place in a judgment has been expressed
even more forcefully than this.
262
Use of humour regarding the losing party is a
“dreadful thing”
263
and “contemptible” because it is like “hitting a man when
he is down”.
264
Not only will the loser have lost, they will feel that their case
has been taken flippantly.
Nevertheless some judges use humour,
265
and some writers promote it.
266
This
approach is defended on the basis that humour may sometimes be
“appropriate”.
267
But it must be “carefully controlled”
268
to ensure that parties
are never “given the impression that the judge does not take his or her duties
___________________
257
Porreco v Porreco
(2002) Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, reported
in The Sydney Morning Herald "Judge's poetic ruse fails, alas, to amuse"
16 December 2002, p 9
258
WS Gilbert The Mikado 1885
259
Sheller (1996) p 4
260
Gibbs (1993) p 499
261
Kitto (1992) p 787
262
Kirby (1990) p 697
263
Prosser (1952) p vii
264
Kirby (1990) p 698, citing GR Smith “A Primer of Opinion Writing
for Four New Judges” in Winters 1975, p 132
265
Kirby (1990) p 698
266
Wallach (1984)
267
Gibbs (1993) p 499
268
Jordan (1987) p 698
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