Dimes v Grand Junction Canal

Dimes v Grand Junction Canal
Decided	1852
Case history
Related action	House of Lords
Court membership
Judge sitting	Lord Chancellor
Keywords
Equity law

Dimes v Grand Junction Canal (1852) was a case heard by the House of Lords.

The case addresses the point that "Judges must not appear to be biased". Lord Cottenham presided over a previous case in which a canal company brought a case in equity against a landowner. Lord Cottenham was later discovered to have had shares in said company. The verdict stated that although there was no suggestion that the Lord Chancellor had in fact been influenced by his interest in the company, no case should be decided by a judge with a financial interest in the outcome. It was held that the Lord Chancellor was disqualified from sitting as a judge in the case because he had an interest in the action.

References

• "Cases - judges". Sixth Form Law. Archived from the original on 8 March 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
• Pdf document regarding a speech by Lord Cambell in the house of lords and certain facts regarding the House of Lords case.