The editorial All Judges And Magistrates Must Stand Tall (October 5) really brought back the advice I received from former Chief Justice Hugh Harding when I was appointed to what is perhaps the lowest post in the judiciary: chairman of the Industrial Tribunal. Judge Harding had been our legal adviser at the Dockyard and had left us when he became a judge. He said then he was heading for a very lonely post after the hustle and bustle among his fellow lawyers. He told me that he had to limit his social life and would lose many friends.

Naturally, on receiving my appointment to the tribunal he reminded me of what he had said and added that as I was the chairman of the Union Club I would have to watch out for “false friendships” (as he put it) in search of favouritism. It was advice that I took and had to limit my social life to a certain extent.

Perhaps some members of the judiciary would do well to follow Chief Justice Emeritus Harding’s advice and the views expressed in the editorial of The Times.