![handle is hein.journals/legstd28 and id is 1 raw text is: Legal Studies, Vol. 28 No. 1, March 2008, pp. 1-19
Winner of the SLS Annual Conference Best Paper Prize 2007
Fidelity in interpretation: Lord Hoffmann
and The Adventure of the Empty House
James Lee*
Teaching Fellow, University of Reading
This paper explores Dworkin's 'law as a chain novel' analogy and considers the recent
work of Dworkin and MacCormick through close scrutiny of two recent judgments of Lord
Hoffmann, in Barlow Clowes v Eurotrust International [2005] UKPC 37 and Barker v
Corus [2006] UKHL 20. The aim is to examine Dworkin's theory in the context of recent
English private law decisions and determine whether Lord Hoffinann's approach to
interpretation is consistent with that of Dworkin (as his Lordship has contended in the
past). It is argued that Lord Hoffmann's treatment of recent decisions on which he himself
sat raises significant questions regarding fidelity, coherence and the institutional structure
of the House of Lords.
INTRODUCTION
'The crime was of interest in itself, but that interest was as nothing to me
compared to the inconceivable sequel, which afforded me the greatest shock and
surprise of any event in my adventurous life.
In 1893, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, desiring to spend more time writing his historical
novels, apparently killed off Sherlock Holmes in 'The Adventure of the Final
Problem', as the Great Detective grappled with his nemesis Professor Moriarty on a
precarious ledge over the Reichenbach Falls. Ten years later,2 Conan Doyle resur-
rected Holmes in 'The Adventure of the Empty House', with Holmes explaining to
Watson how he had performed a miraculous escape. While the fans were delighted to
have their hero back, not everyone was convinced at the explanation.
* I am grateful to Professor Richard Buckley, Professor Adrian Briggs, Professor Brice
Dickson, Mr Stuart Lakin and the editors for their comments and guidance. Drafts of this paper
were presented to the Oxford Jurisprudence Discussion Group and at the Society of Legal
Scholars (SLS) Annual Conference at Durham University, and I appreciated the helpful insights
of those who attended both presentations. I thank the University of Reading Research Travel
Fund for supporting my attendance at the SLS Conference. Any errors are my own.
1. A Conan Doyle 'The Adventure of the Empty House' in The Return of Sherlock Holmes
(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993) p 3.
2. It should be noted, for the sake of accuracy, that 'The Hound of the Baskervilles' was
published in 1901, but its setting preceded 'The Final Problem'. 'The Adventure of the Empty
House' was first published in Collier's in September 1903. 'The Empty House' is itself legally
notable for posing an archetypal criminal law problem, when Colonel Moran shoots a wax
dummy of Holmes, believing it to be the man himself; see, eg, W Cook 'Act, intention and
motive in criminal law' (1916-1917) 26 Yale LJ 645.
© 2008 The Author. Journal Compilation © 2008 The Society of Legal Scholars. Published by Blackwell Publishing.
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