Pragmatism and Theory in English Law - College of Social Sciences ...

40 Pragmatism and Theory in English Law
will seek intellectual perfection rather than imperfect pragmatism."
87
I have said that the view of the academic as having a
modest role in the English legal system may be on the wane;
but if it is, this fact is not yet reflected in the different social
status accorded to the academic on the one hand and the
practitioner and judge on the other. It is particularly invidious
for an academic to raise these issues as a matter for
serious comment because by doing so he must inevitably
seem to be complaining about his own inferiority of status.
Nevertheless, it does seem to me worth making a few
remarks about the different status of the academic on the
one hand, and practioner and judge on the other, because I
am firmly convinced that the differences in their status are
not unconnected with the whole role of theory, reason, and
rational argument in English law. Most of the differences
are obvious enough, and hardly need to be dwelt upon. All
High Court Judges, for instance, become knights (or
Dames) and are paid over £60,000 per annum, while academics
can at best become professors and are paid about
£20,000 per annum. A very small number of exceptionally
distinguished academics are honoured by knighthoods, but
their salaries remain unchanged. Perhaps this reflects the
true worth of the functions performed by the two professions,
but if so, it is odd that in America law professors in
top law schools are generally paid more than most judges,
even though American judges have much greater constitutional
responsibilities than English judges. Nor arc these
differences in salaries and status the result of market forces,
because they arc determined by the government, and not
s7 "Law Lords, Reactionaries or Reformers," (1984) Cur.Leg.Probs. 247,
at p. 258.