A thread I wrote yesterday following a decision by a Crown Court judge in Woolwich. It may sound like a technical legal issue, but the practical effects for public safety could be devastating. The original tweet that sparked the thread is here: https://twitter.com/crimelinelaw/status/1290563065684074496?s=21 My thread is here:
Read moreLunch with the FT
I had the pleasure of a spot of lunch with Barney Thompson, legal correspondent at the Financial Times, for the “Lunch with the FT” feature in this weekend’s edition. Given the profile of interviewee normally invited (recent guests include Woody Harrelson, Anthony Scaramucci and Jacinda Ardern), this is an honour I most certainly don’t deserve,…
Read moreBad law reporting and a public dangerously disconnected from criminal justice
thesecretbarrister Bad Law, Contemplations, Law Inaction, Lawsplaining, Legal Aid, Politics, Sentencing
The criminal law has long had an image problem. Partly, the fault is internal: the ridiculous costume; the alienating hybrid of legalese and obsequious formality that renders court hearings nonsensical to anyone in the public gallery; the impenetrability and inaccessibility of updated statute and case law; the historic failure of those of us in the…
Read moreWhy this 75p Mars bar shows we should abolish magistrates
If there is one positive to be derived from the Criminal Courts Charge (about which see here), it is that the creeping media attention is starting to shine a low-wattage torch on the grubby underside of the criminal justice system – the magistrates’ courts. Enormous credit must be extended to Frances Crook and colleagues at…
Read moreThe start of the end
The naysayers have been saying nay since long before I came to the criminal Bar. This is a dying industry, the wide-eyed prospective criminal practitioner is told. You’ll be squeaking into a criminal justice system that would be fraying at the seams, had the seams not been privatised and sold at bargain-basement prices to G4S…
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