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To the question should the law lead public opinion the answer must be a resounding 'yes'. To the question do lawyers and judges have any more insight into public opinion than anyone else the answer must be a resounding 'no'. Lawyers and judges see much of the world through the prism of their work. It wasn't surprising that Coleridge worried about the institution of marriage but his experience of it must have been coloured by the fact that, in his daily working life he only saw the failures, and as a barrister and then judge he saw mainly the worst types of failure. Family judges rarely see the successful marriages nor do they get more than a passing glimpse of the couples whose marriages fail but who deal with it sensibly.

In many ways the modern judiciary seem to behave in a similar manner to the way public opinion responds to Red Top campaigns. One or two nasty events and there is a cry for 'something to be done'. Munby refers to the wealthy man who refuses to marry his partner and then throws her on the scrap heap, a situation which is far more likely to come within the purview of lawyers and judges than that of the woman who refuses to marry despite the wishes of her partner. Freedom of choice is too important for it to be taken away to solve the problems of those whose ignorance leads them astray. Far better to have some kind of educational campaign aimed at removing the myths surrounding cohabiting relationships. Indeed, in our modern society why not include marriage, cohabitation and child care in the curriculum. There is some pretty clear evidence that some child abuse in newborns is due to ignorance rather than malice.

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