| | | | | | | | worries more about the latter) and the Right |
| | | | | | 35 | | (which worries more about the former). Both |
| | | | | | | | the ‘retreat from prosecution’ and the convic- |
| | | | | | | | tions, he insists, are miscarriages of justice. |
| | | | | 5 | | | These numbers are so high, he argues, that |
| | | | | | | | the system is in crisis. David Rose’s diagnosis |
| | | | | | 40 | | of its defects is compelling. And his proposals |
| | | | | | | | for reform? Among others: a new constitutio- |
| | | | | | | | nal settlement, the simplification of the laws of |
| | | | | | | | evidence, the codification of the criminal law, |
| | | Why | | | | | and a ‘transformed prosecution service’. These |
| | | justice | | | 45 | | proposals, Rose accepts, in a melancholy com- |
| | | is unjust | | | | | ment, ‘lie beyond the far horizon’. Even the |
| | | Anthony Julius | | | | | modest proposal of research into jury decision- |
| | | | | | | | making would require amending legislation |
| | | praises an | | | | | which the present Government shows no inter- |
| | | examination of | | | 50 | | est in pursuing. |
| | | our legal system | | 6 | | | Reformers of the criminal-justice system |
| | | | | | | | have to face up to four uncomfortable truths. |
| | | In the Name of the Law: The | | | | | First, no structure performs up to its blueprint. |
| | | Collapse of Criminal Justice | | | | | Second, any system which depends on people |
| | | by David Rose | | | 55 | | to run it will be put under strain by corruptibi- |
| | | | | | | | lity and incompetence. Third, no structure can |
| | | | | | | | withstand infinite pressure: the war against ter- |
| | | | | | | | rorism, and the sheer numbers being processed, |
| | | | | | | | are in part responsible for the present crisis, |
1 | | | TWO KINDS of people are injured by crime: | | | 60 | | and the solutions to these lie beyond reform of |
| | | the victims of crime, and those unjustly ac- | | | | | the criminal-justice system itself. Fourth, the |
| | | cused of those crimes. They may each be | | | | | system cannot be addressed as a problem in |
| | | injured or shamed; they may lose their proper- | | | | | isolation. Its defects are in certain respects the |
| 5 | | ty or their jobs. They will experience pain and | | | | | defects of our society as a whole. |
| | | distress; they may never recover from their | | 7 | 65 | | It is the great merit of David Rose’s book |
| | | subjection to criminal or state power. | | | | | that it does not flinch from these truths: ‘if |
2 | | | The support they will receive is likely to be | | | | | criminal justice is collapsing, it is only part of a |
| | | similarly patchy. Victims of crime may find | | | | | deeper social palsy’. |
| 10 | | that the crimes against them are never investi- | | 8 | | | Though Rose is now a journalist, he is a his- |
| | | gated; their injuries may not be adequately | | | 70 | | torian by training; the book consists of very |
| | | compensated. Victims of wrongful prosecution | | | | | much more than mere stitched-together news |
| | | may find that the evidence against them is | | | | | articles. But because he is a journalist, he |
| | | manufactured; the lawyers defending them | | | | | knows how to tell stories that resonate. He has |
| 15 | | may be incompetent or indifferent to their | | | | | the imagination to relate individual cases of |
| | | predicament - or both. | | | 75 | | injustice to a system that is overall in crisis. He |
3 | | | One of the state’s primary duties is to protect | | | | | gives detailed accounts of that system’s many |
| | | the lives and property of its citizens. This | | | | | scandals. |
| | | means securing them against both crime and | | 9 | | | There is also a fascinating chapter about |
| 20 | | wrongful prosecution. These are two aspects of | | | | | Rose’s experience shadowing the Kilburn |
| | | the same duty, if only because every time an in- | | | 80 | | police: the disillusion of officers of all ranks |
| | | nocent man is convicted, the true offender goes | | | | | with English criminal justice is compellingly |
| | | free. Criminal-justice systems that work will | | | | | demonstrated. The case he makes for the link |
| | | shield the innocent while convicting the guilty. | | | | | between crime and social deprivation seems to |
| 25 | | Is ours such a system? | | | | | me to be unanswerable. The fact that the |
4 | | | Not according to David Rose. Indeed, it is so | | | 85 | | Crown Prosecution Service gives cost prece- |
| | | unsuccessful that while the innocent are rou- | | | | | dence over justice is devastatingly exposed. If |
| | | tinely convicted, the guilty equally routinely | | | | | there is one book that any incoming Home |
| | | avoid trial. His outstanding book spares | | | | | Secretary should read, it is this one. It is a fine |
| 30 | | neither police, prosecutors, defence lawyers, | | | | | work. |
| | | nor judges. His concern at the numbers of the | | | | | |
| | | wrongly unprosecuted and the wrongly con- | | | 90 | | Anthony Julius is a partner at Mishcon de |
| | | victed distances him both from the Left (which | | | | | Reya solicitors. |
| | | | | | | | |