This Blog is known as the “Officious Bystander“. It’s named after a person who lurks around Courts where they deal with Civil Justice, notably in this Court but there are equivalent versions across the globe. They like to find litigants who are in dispute about the meaning of contracts. Courts are often asked to rule on the meaning of contracts. You may have thought that the whole point of a contract is to specify an agreement but it remains very difficult to specify every last detail with accuracy.
An Officious Bystander might interrupt a discussion by pointing out how obvious a point may be!
The litigants would then agree because the Bystander only points out the obvious. For example in an employment contract you may not state that someone should turn up to work every working day, the bystander points out this detail and everyone agrees. In reality this is just a legal device to help fill in the details that might otherwise take an age to resolve.
The author liked the idea of the Officious Bystander and has asked them to comment on all legal matters, not just just Civil Law. Hence this Blog is to hold their musings on Justice and Legal History. This bystander spent some time in New England and picked up a curiosity about the evolution of the Legal Systems in the US and England.
Nothing in this Blog is Legal Advice.
The real Officious Bystander is taught in Law Schools and is sometimes mentioned in real cases.