In some ways, it’s like being a football referee. Whatever decision you make, you will upset someone, somewhere.

So not only will the acuity of your senses be brought into question (“Didn’t you see what happened, Ref?”) but challenges to your intelligence and impartiality will be both loud and vocal, both from those who don’t know any better, and those who do.

Yet for all the self-righteous indignation and exasperated protestations of injustice, how many of us would actually want to take on such a thankless task?

And, in particular, the role of a Crown Court judge? Imagine how it must feel to sit, day after day, in judgment over cases involving serious crimes?

Can there be any more important job in a civilised society than assessing humanity’s rights and wrongs against the cold and clinical language of the legal system?

Judge Julian Hall, Oxford Crown Court’s resident judge for the last 24 years, has often aroused controversy, yet has also won many plaudits for his stand on, among other issues, domestic violence.

Indeed, one barrister who attended his retirement ceremony on Monday called him “the most humane judge we’ve had”.

Whether you have applauded or derided his decisions over the years, it is important to remember that Judge Julian has conducted himself with great dignity, great charity and an unwavering belief in the truth.