Why is possession of marijuana still a criminal offence?
Your comment relates to whether there is a need for law reform in a particular area of the law. This website deals with the role of judges in upholding existing laws. Making laws is a function of the legislature, and suggestions for law reform should be directed to Members of Parliament. Judges apply the laws that are created by legislation and by prior cases; they do not make or change laws. Indeed they are governed by the rule of law, and they function separately from the other two branches of government, the legislative and the executive. This separation, or independence, is one of the true strengths of our democratic system of government. Judges may be trusted to apply the laws fairly and without bias to each party before them, even when one of those parties is another branch of government, as in criminal cases where the Crown counsel represents the Attorney General or Minister of Justice. For this reason it is not for judges to be political activists or law reformists, or indeed t
