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…
Read moreOk BBC, so what SHOULD we spend defending criminals?
I shall be brief and to the point. I had not planned on blogging today. But then came along the BBC. With this: Becky killers got £400,000 in legal aid https://t.co/94MTgSzd3z — BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) March 3, 2016 Now, this kind of “story” I’ve come to expect from certain news-peddlers. The Mail, the Telegraph, the…
Read moreMr Gove must now hammer the final nail into Grayling’s legacy – and abolish the Innocence Tax
Last week, David Cameron offered a masterclass in how to employ a dead cat to maximum effect. A political tactic chiselled from the wisdom of Lynton Crosby – the Snarf to Cameron’s Liono, to maintain the theme – the Dead Cat postulates that, when events are going against you, you throw a dead cat on…
Read moreMichael Gove is a sincere, intelligent man who is doing the right thing. And we trust him at our peril.
Gawd bless that nice Mr Gove! Why, in only a few months he has already been fulsomely complimentary about how smashing we barristers are, has made some tremendously liberal squeaks about rehabilitating prisoners, and successfully squared up to Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond on how it’s a rum idea to offer to teach the Saudis how to dismember their own prisoners. And now,…
Read moreThe Versions of Us: The alternative life and times of Chris Grayling
“Just in case [Chris Grayling MP] is to be completely airbrushed from history, can we have a debate on his legacy as former Justice Secretary? It need not be a very long debate.” When you’re standing in Parliament having your political career mocked by an ex-vicar best known for posting online pics of himself in his pants, it’s…
Read moreOfficial: If you are accused of a crime, the government will pay more for someone to photocopy your case than for someone to defend you
This is not a complaint about what criminal barristers get paid. Honestly. There are plenty of such grizzlings on other posts over these pages. But this is not one of them. No siree. Well not really. Admittedly pay rates are a feature of this contemplation, but only as an adjunct to a broader, more depressing principle. And it…
Read moreMichael and the Mystery of the Disappearing Prosecution Service
And now, the latest instalment in a new children’s series provisionally entitled “Michael Meets The Justice System”, possibly published by Penguin (and now, happily, no longer barred to prisoners), in which the reader joins brand new Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice Michael Gove on a rollercoaster of head-scratching and belly laughs as…
Read moreWhat I go to court for
I am not a habitually angry person. Those who know me professionally would, I hope, attest to my happy-go-lucky demeanour and brimming joie de vivre. By way of example, I considered illustrating this blogpost with a jovial (and nostalgic) nod to Busted’s What I Go To School For. In fact: See? Jocular. Convivial. That’s me…
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