Message
from the
Chief
When the law looks backwards
Most of the time, it is
satisfying to be working in
a job closely linked to our
legal system. We will all
have experience of laws
that seem inappropriate,
cumbersome, perhaps even
not well thought through but
for the most part, UK laws
and judicial decisions strike a
sensible balance between the
rights of individuals to certain
freedoms and the needs of
the state to protect its citizens.
Sometimes, as a solicitor, you are at the
sharp end of the application of law in
resolving conflicts in which the interests of
different individuals or businesses clash,
and even if the outcome is not one that
you agree with, it is usually possible to see
a sound rational basis for that outcome in
the way that the law is interpreted.
interpreted by the courts in a way
that redraws the boundary between
lawful and unlawful actions or changes
that may have once been a sensible,
balanced decision into one that now
seems much less reasonable.
Let me give you an example;
In the 2009 Finance Act, the then
Chancellor introduced provisions that
changed vehicle excise duty on cars to
reflect their pollution potential. Cars with
larger engines generating more CO2
were suddenly more expensive to run
and less desirable to own, causing their
value to depreciate.
`What’s wrong with that – surely the
polluter should pay?`, you may ask.
Well, yes there is some force in that
argument but if you a