Obiter is intrigued by a new book to be launched by Hart Publishing next month entitled Feminist Judgments. The book takes bone fide Court of Appeal and House of Lords judgments and rewrites them with a feminist slant, making a point about how women are affected by the law. Writing a foreword for the tome, Supreme Court Justice Brenda Hale (pictured) – the only woman to hold the post – admits that reading the book is a ‘chastening experience’ even for a judge such as herself, who ‘believes herself to be a feminist’. She says: ‘There are cases here in which I would have loved to be able to go the extra mile and write the judgment which the feminist "judge" has written. Sometimes I did not because it was more important to reach the same result by a route with which the whole court could agree. Sometimes I did not because of the huge practical implications, which might actually imperil the decision if they were exposed.’ So what mark did the book’s authors give Hale for the judgments she had handed down – Alpha Plus, surely? Apparently not. Hale says humbly: ‘"Could do better" is the mark which some authors have given to my own best efforts.’