Question

Who said that "Case-law is gold in the mine-a few grains of precious metal to the tons of useless matter, while the statute law is coin of the State which is ready for immediate use"?

• A. Albert Venn Dicey
• B. John Salmond
• C. Rudolf Von Ihering
• D. H. L. A. Hart

Hint:

The "gold in the mine vs. coin of the State" analogy is a classic quote from John Salmond, highlighting the perceived efficiency and clarity of statute law over case law.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is B

This famous analogy was made by Sir John Salmond, a prominent legal scholar from New Zealand.
He used this metaphor to compare the two main sources of law: precedent (case law) and legislation (statute law).
He argued that while precedents contain valuable legal principles (the "gold"), a lawyer has to sift through a lot of irrelevant material in judgments (the "useless matter") to find them.
In contrast, he viewed statutes as being like coins minted by the state—clear, precise, and ready for immediate application.