Making the Angels Weep

Abstract

In this article Sir Robin Cooke considers Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Association v Union of India (1993) 4 SCC 441 (known as the “Second Judges case”). This is a decision of the Supreme Court of India on judicial appointments and the meaning to be given to the word “consultation” in the Indian Constitution. He compares the Indian decision with a Wellington International Airport Ltd v Air New Zealand [1993] 1 NZLR 671 (CA), a decision of the New Zealand Court of Appeal, and Attorney-General of Western Samoa v Saipai’ia Olamalu (1984) 14 VUWLR 275, a decision of the Western Samoa Court of Appeal. Sir Robin concludes by suggesting that the judiciary “has a part to play not merely in expounding conventions, but in helping to create them.”

Keywords: Lord Cooke, consultation, Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Association v Union of India, Second judges case, Supreme Court of India, Indian Constitution, Wellington International Airport Ltd v Air New Zealand, New Zealand Court of Appeal, Saipai'ia Olamalu, Western Samoa Court of Appeal