Changing the Law Landmark Court Cases

The law is designed to serve justice, but it is not set in stone and can change. Landmark court cases are those which challenge expected outcomes and lead to changes in legislation.

One landmark court case was the Belmarsh decision in 2004. In a battle between national security or civil liberties, either court case outcome would have far-reaching implications. In this case, the right to indefinitely detain terror suspects without charge was denied, placing human rights over the law of the land.

In 1931, William Herbert Wallace was convicted of murdering his wife, this was the first conviction to be overturned by the Court of Criminal appeal. It paved the way in future court cases where someone has been falsely accused and acquitted.

A negligence case: Donoghue V Stevenson in 1932 is a favourite of law students. It is memorable because the court case focused on the discovery of a snail in a bottle of ginger beer. Although this may seem absurd, the judge’s final comments have impacted multiple cases since.