In the decision of Parke J in Egerton v. Brownlow (1853) 4 HL as 196, there is this passage which has been frequently quoted with approval by many judges including Sir Charles Newbold:
“It is the province of the
statesman, and not the Lawyer, to discuss, and of the Legislature to determine,
what is best for the public good and to provide by proper enactments. It is the
province of the judge to expound the law only; the written from the decisions
of our predecessors and of our existing courts, from textwriters of
acknowledged authority, and upon the principles to be clearly deduced from them
by sound reason and just inference; not to speculate upon what is best, in his
opinion, for the advantage of the community”.
