By Baroness Helena Kennedy QC
Soon after the bombings in London in July 2005 the Prime Minister made it clear in a public statement that legal regime change was on the cards. ''Let no one be in any doubt. The rules of the game are changing,'' Tony Blair declared. In fact, he has been renovating the criminal justice system ever since he came into office, expressing a determination to rebalance the system emphatically in favour of the victim, reducing jury trial, removing long-established evidential rules which he believed made it harder to get convictions and, most crucially, lowering the standard of proof in categories of case where he knew the public would be unlikely to object, such as antisocial behaviour and terrorism. It is a populist agenda, that gives far more power to the state but is dressed up as ''power to the people''. .............
Soon after the bombings in London in July 2005 the Prime Minister made it clear in a public statement that legal regime change was on the cards. ''Let no one be in any doubt. The rules of the game are changing,'' Tony Blair declared. In fact, he has been renovating the criminal justice system ever since he came into office, expressing a determination to rebalance the system emphatically in favour of the victim, reducing jury trial, removing long-established evidential rules which he believed made it harder to get convictions and, most crucially, lowering the standard of proof in categories of case where he knew the public would be unlikely to object, such as antisocial behaviour and terrorism. It is a populist agenda, that gives far more power to the state but is dressed up as ''power to the people''. .............
We are all concerned about street crime; we all fear terrorism. But the checks and balances within the common-law system are there for a purpose and have been the product of bitter experience. They operate as a restraint on abuse by the those with authority. Remember:when the state has too much power it can commit far greater crimes than any individual.
.
V V V V V
Baroness Helena Kennedy QC is a member of the Doughty Street chambers; life peer in the House of Lords. She is a renowned Human Rights lawyer, having represented such high profile clients as Myra Hindley and one of the Guildford Four.
The piece above is extracted from an article titled Legally blind, published by The Economist -The World in 2006 (not available on line).
No comments:
Post a Comment