As I Read I Weep: In Praise of Judicial Narrative

Shulamit Almog, University of Haifa, Israel

Abstract

The use of narrative in law and its legal relevance has many diverse aspects. The relationship between law and narrative is a multifaceted one, and not easily defined or even admitted. This kind of relationship is enhanced when looking at judicial writing. There is a gap between the function of the judicial text as a public normative act and its private dimension, which is expressed in a catalogue of personal creative choices. The continuous tension creates a number of complex questions, pertaining to the ethics and the desirable modes of judicial narrative, which are dealt with in the article.