My post last week began with an extract from the Gettysburg Address. To avoid repetition I repeat that opening. Constitutional experts have written millions of words on what are the prerequisites for a successful government. These can be funneled into two requirements: sovereignty and commanding public confidence. The former emanates from the people and it must secure the sovereignty of the State and the integrity of the national territory. The latter requires leadership that can command the confidence and trust of key stakeholders and the public. From them follows a system of laws that dictates the extent of government powers and the rights of citizens providing a predictable and stable environment.
However in a democratic society these foundations cannot be powerful enough on their own without trust in the government by those who voted them into power.
Since 2010 the system of justice in this country has been decimated by intent and largely ignored by parliamentary oppositions and media. The only aspect which gained attention has been the consideration for victims. As a cynical observer I would opine that these innovations have been as much about persuading the public that government was on the side of the people. However this government and the current holder of the boss of this department must be neck and neck with failing Grayling Justice Secretary September 2012 – May 2015 as the most incompetent not to be trusted Secretaries this century.
There are arguments for restricting trials by jury but none is as obtuse as the claim that it will better the chances of victims having their day in court. Crown courts operating today can be found here. This site does not indicate how many courtrooms are actually closed. Information on the backlog is available here.
Judges have been restricted on their total number of sitting days as a direct matter of government policy. Lammy is being shown to be as trustworthy as a £3 pound note. When in opposition he was a strong defender of jury trials describing them as "fundamental" to the justice system and a "filter for prejudice". He specifically stated that "Criminal trials without juries are a bad idea". Although District Judges [magistrates court] have been sole arbiters as fact finders and sentencers every decision can be appealed without undue formality that will not be the case in Crown Court where the appeal process requires expertise. Presiding magistrates surely have enough experience to sit with a judge as assessors as they do with appeals from magistrates courts. Removing all either way matters would also reduce the crown court burden.
The Tory and coalition governments deliberately salami sliced the justice system in all aspects from police numbers to prison spaces. They got away with this predation with the silent acquiescence of Labour Party. Lammy being in his post is expediency over good sense, a faculty lacking in 10 Downing Street overwhelmed by political inertia as a result of Marxist wolves in Labour sheeps` clothing threatening to blow the house down [please excuse the mixed nursey tales].
Rachel Reeve`s proven lying on her CV gives little confidence in anything she now tells us. Rome wasn`t built in a day and its final sacking took a bit longer: the Vandals sack of Rome (455 AD) lasted for two weeks, from June 2 to June 16. But the cracks in the imperial edifice were apparent many years earlier. We are now in that preparatory period when extremists are trying to offer to us that which democratic rule has failed.
The barricades are being assembled mentally if not yet physically as in Paris in 1848.
I am leaving in a few days to attend a wedding in Sri Lanka. So I wish my reader a merry Christmas and a happy new year.
