I am going to break my cardinal rule and offer comment on a legal case without having read the judgment or sentencing remarks. My excuse is that the case in question was a guilty plea at Dudley Magistrates’ Court, and my exhaustive research suggests that the District Judge has not followed the modern fashion of making his…
Read moreThe criminal law has no business interfering in bad relationships
On 29 December 2015, to relatively little fanfare, a well-meaning but ultimately flawed criminal law was brought into force. Today, some 8 months on, the Guardian reports that the number of people being prosecuted under this law is low, inviting remedy under David Allen Green’s so-prescient-that-it-surpasses-satire Something Must Be Done Act 2014. The issue at…
Read moreIf MPs are going to attack judges, they should at least understand the law
I don’t want defending the indefensible to become my default position. At least not outside the courtroom. And I’m well aware that what I’m about to say amounts to a defence of a section of society whom very few – particularly among lawyers – would leap to support. And that, following the reaction to my…
Read moreWhat else was Byron Burger supposed to do?
So, here’s an unpopular opinion to release into the world: I don’t see what Byron is supposed to have done wrong. The gourmet burger chain – previously thrust into the media spotlight as George Osborne’s late-night indulgence of choice – has enjoyed 24 hours of social media’s most vitriolic virtue signalling after 35 of its migrant workers were…
Read moreCriticisms of Liz Truss have nothing to do with lawyers’ sexism
Let’s knock one evolving conspiracy theory on the head before court starts. Since the new Prime Minister appointed Liz Truss as Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice in lieu of the defenestrated, and relatively popular, Michael Gove, a number of lawyers and politicians have suggested that Ms Truss – the third consecutive non-lawyer appointed to…
Read moreThe new Justice Secretary – does it matter that she’s not a lawyer?
So, as anticipated, our new Prime Minister has favoured punishing disloyalty over rewarding competence and sent Mr Gove and his ambitious, compassionate prison reforms to the naughty back benches. This morning has brought a transfer-deadline-day-style frenzy to Legal Twitter, anticipation and trepidation converging as rumours and supposition threw up name after name as possible new Secretary…
Read moreA truly remarkable democratic mandate
On last night’s BBC Question Time, Dominic Raab, Minister for Human Rights at the Ministry of Justice and noisy Vote Leave campaigner, mounted his high horse and trotted up to what has swiftly been informally assigned the next frontier in the Referendum fall-out war – “democratic legitimacy”. Unprompted, Mr Raab described the 51.9% vote in favour of leave…
Read moreWhat would happen to Brock Turner in an English criminal court?
On 18 January 2015, Brock Allen Turner committed a series of serious sexual assaults against an unconscious woman on an American university campus. Two graduate students at Stanford University saw the 20-year old Turner lying on top of the motionless victim behind a dumpster. Her underwear and bra had been partially removed, and Turner was…
Read moreIt’s official: the Criminal Justice System is broken, and no-one seems to care
Friday 27 May 2016. The day on which the following events were deemed worthy of historical record on the front pages of the English press: It is also the day, you may be interested to know, that the criminal justice system was officially declared “close to breaking point”. Not by me or my kindred professional…
Read moreDefendants in person, aliens and the MoJ Jekyll and Hyde
“Right.” The legal advisor looked at me, then back at the defendant. “And are any of them going to be witnesses for you today?” “Any of who?” replied the defendant. The legal advisor looked at me again and cleared his throat. “Any of the aliens?” The defendant shook his head angrily. “No! My case isn’t…
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