Thomas Hobbes' criticism of the common law judges

Abstract

Hobbes's doctrine of the nature of the judicial function has received little scholarly attention in Bulgarian legal theory. Hobbes laid out his doctrine of the judicial function largely by commenting on the ideas of Justice Edward Coke. When Hobbes's theory of law is presented, it is customary to emphasize his dispute with Justice Coke, with which he opens his well-known Dialogue, though without mentioning the significance it had in determining the nature of the judicial function. One part which has attracted the greatest attention of scholars is that in which Hobbes refutes Coke's doctrine of the relation between law and reason. Both agree that the law embodies reason, but differ on whose reason it embodies.