“We cannot make a law, we must go according to the law. That must be our rule and direction.”

Parkyns' Case (1696), 13 How. St. Tr. 72. Compare: "We cannot make laws". Reg. v. Nash (1703), 2 Raym. 990; Powell, J., Queen v. Read (1706), Fortesc. 99.

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John Holt (Lord Chief Justice) 36
English lawyer and Lord Chief Justice of England 1642–1710

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