Lord Denning was said to be the most celebrated XX century English judge. Still, some of his contemporaries contemplate him as the most controversial one as well. He was such an educated lawyer and so popular for protecting the interests of ordinary people that law students have created "The Lord Denning Appreciation Society"! Today he is seen as a judge that significantly changed the English common law to comprehensible and just verdicts.
Background
Alfred Thompson Denning was born on January 23, 1899 in Whit church, Hampshire in the family of Charles Denning, a draper, and his wife Clara (Thompson). He was one of six children, the fourth of five sons. His sister Marjorie named him after Alfred the Great and he was baptized on April 23, 1899. Alfred was born two months earlier than expected and was weak and small. Because of this he was called "Tom Thumb". It is necessary to point out that this sobriquet became very popular: even as a Law Lord, Alfred Denning was sometimes surnamed as "Tom".
The range of Lord Denning's ancestors is impressive. Among them there is Sir Sydenham Poyntz, commanded the Parliamentary forces at the battle of Royton Heath in the Civil War, who afterwards became Governor of Antigua. The brother of Sydenham, Newdigate Poyntz fought for the King. His mother was a schoolmistress, a very strong lady with a backbone of steel. Her dream was to see her children successful. Maybe, it is family history that influenced the young Alfred greatly. But one thing is absolutely doubtful: this man prospered as one of the most influential British lawyers of the XX century.
Education
Alfred Denning started his studies at the National School of Whit church, which was one of the schools established by the National Society for the Education of the Poor. During the time spent in this educational institution Alfred had acquired a reputation for a capable pupil. Together with his brother Gordon he won a scholarship to the Andover Grammar School, where he proved to be an academically gifted student, having won four prizes for English essays.
During his studies at the Andover Alfred Denning took an interest in mathematics. He decided to choose it as his major. Unfortunately, World War I stood in his way, because all male schoolmasters left for the Armed Forces. Female teachers that have replaced them couldn't provide the young Denning with the sort of knowledge he sought, so he concentrated on self-education. His efforts were rewarded: Alfred qualified to study at University College, Southampton. Still he was strongly advised to stay at school for some time and apply to Oxford or Cambridge in a few years. At the age of sixteen he successfully sat the Oxford examination and was awarded a small exhibition to study Mathematics at Magdalena College, Oxford.
In 1916 Alfred Denning matriculated to Oxford.
During his studies at the university Alfred Denning worked very hard despite military training early in the morning and in the evening. In 1917 he was told to be ineligible to serve military service due to some health problems. The young man successfully appealed against this decision and spent more than 2 years bearing arms.
Alfred was demobilized in 1919 and returned to college. A few years were lost and Denning completely immersed in his studies, not paying attention to various kinds of students’ associations and clubs. He successfully graduated in 1920 and started to work as a Math teacher at Winchester College, but this job gave him little pleasure. After a visit in the court of law Alfred had an idea: a job of a barrister can satisfy him!
In October 1921 Denning returned to Magdalena College to study Jurisprudence and successfully graduated the following year.
Alfred Denning started his legal career in 1921, when he was admitted to Lincoln's Inn. At first he worked at 4 Brick Court Chambers as an assistant, but after he had successfully passed his bar exams, he began working as a barrister. It is necessary to say that being too young to represent clients in higher courts, Denning was busy receiving small briefs from clients and prosecuting those who had failed to pay fees or tickets. He was devoted to his job showing impressive professional advancement and in 1932 he established his own set of chambers in Brick Court.
During the late 1930s and the early 1940s Alfred Denning was working as a Chancellor of the Diocese of Southwark and the Diocese of London. After the start of World War II Denning worked as legal advisor in the North East Region, because he was too old for active military service.
In 1944 Alfred was officially appointed as a High Court judge and received his knighthood. It is necessary to point out that from this moment Lord Denning started applying his own view of the law to the way cases were decided. His position gave him an opportunity to create precedents and he used his power actively to make the law serve social justice. To his mind, the judge should make the law correspond with the justice that the case requires. Still, sometimes Lord Denning’s adherence to the principals of fairness was not highly appreciated by other judges and the House of Lords.
Lord Hailsham, when Lord Chancellor, said: "The trouble with Tom Denning is he's always re-making the law and we never know where we are".
After less than five years as a judge, Denning was appointed a Lord Justice of Appeal in 1948. He continued to introduce changes in the common law, though sometimes he had to face difficulties promoting his view on a certain legal issue. On the other hand, some of his opinions were so popular among people and reflected the necessities of the society in such a brilliant manner that they were afterwards supported be the legislative branch and lay at the basis of several statutes.
When he was proposed for a Law Lord, it wasn't an easy decision for him. Lord Denning planned to become a Master of the Rolls, or Lord Chief Justice and this appointment as a Law Lord could harm his prospects. But he finally agreed and became Baron Denning. It is needless to say that as an individual judge Lord Denning often expressed dissenting opinions, what wasn't welcomed by other judges. Later Alfred Denning admitted that he didn't actually like that job very much.
In 1962 Lord Denning was appointed as Master of the Rolls. He was pleased with both the appointment and the job. In the Court of Appeal there were more cases to hear and the judge had more opportunities to give the "right direction» to the law. Lord Denning introduced an American system of case management: all of them were distributed among judges according to the field they specialize in. That job was a real pleasure for Alfred Denning and he held that post for 20 years until his retirement in 1982.
After the retirement he still continued to give lectures and write books, expressing his opinion on various legal issues.