seriously”.
269
In a similar vein, since irony is “a more
restrained form of
humour” it might be considered “to be more in keeping with the restrained
purposes of the judiciary”.
270
However, humour is a delicate thing, able to be
misconstrued. A writer uses it at their own risk. On this let Sir Francis Bacon
have the last word: “Judges ought to be more learned than witty”.
Title
John Kenneth Galbraith (1908-2006) wrote an economics textbook on the
great crash of the United States stock market in 1929, which ushered in the
Great Depression. It was entitled “The Great Crash of 1929”. Once when
he was in the bookstore in LaGuardia Airport in New York he inquired of
the sales assistant as to whether the shop stocked the book. She replied:
“That's not a title you could sell in an airport”.
A title to a text should aptly reveal its content. In England in the eighteenth and
nineteenth centuries this was often achieved by a long title. For example,
Thomas Robert Malthus’s First Essay on Population
(as it is popularly
known) was entitled An Essay on the Principle of Population as it affects the
Future Improvement of Society with remarks on the Speculation of Mr
Godwin, M. Condorcet, and Other Writers (1798).
Not infrequently authors try to make their titles attention grabbing. This can be
done by directness. For example, the letter of Émile Zola (1840-1908) to the
French President Félix Faure was entitled J’accuse (I accuse). The letter was a
defence of a Jewish artillery captain in the French army, Alfred Dreyfus, who
___________________
269
Gibbs (1993) p 499. In Peter Corcoran (ed) Beginning Refereeing: A
Handbook for the Level 1 Referee
(for the game of rugby league) 2001
Australian Rugby League, the advice on humour says that a sense of
humour “can ‘lighten up’ a game where necessary”. However, the text
goes on to say that humour is “not essential” even though “it can help in
testing situations”. Further, it should “be used sparingly as players could
lose concentration and possibly respect for the referee”.
270
Kirby (1990) p 699, citing the speech of Lord Atkin in Liversidge v
Anderson
[1942] AC 206, 245, and the aftermath, the boycott of Lord
Atkin by his brothers. See also In re Vandervell’s Trusts (No 2) [1974] Ch
269, at 361 per Denning LJ who said “Even
a court of equity would not
allow him to do something so inequitable and unjust”. Another example of
judicial irony that caused huge trouble for the judge was Justice Staples
in Broken Hill Ltd v Seamen’s Union of Australia
(BHP Case) (1975) 171
CAR 711, and in Federated Storemen and Packers Union v Albany
Woolstores
(1979) 231 CAR 388. These are discussed in MD Kirby “The
Removal of Justice Staples –
Contrived Nonsense or Matter of Principle”
(1990) Aust Bar Rev 1.
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