The Defence Brief

“Legal aid is a service which the modern state owes to its citizens as a matter of principal.   It is part of the protection of the citizen’s individuality which, in our modern conception of the relationship between the citizen and the State, can be claimed by those citizens who are too weak to protect themselves.   Just as the modern State tries to protect the poorer classes against the common dangers of life, such as unemployment, disease, old age, social oppression, etc., so it should protect them when legal difficulties arise.   Indeed, the case for such protection is stronger than the case for any other form of protection.   The State is not responsible for the outbreak of epidemics, for old age or economic crises.   But the State is responsible for the law.   That law again is made for the protection of all citizens, poor and rich alike.   It is therefore the duty of the State to make its machinery work alike, for the rich and the poor.” Dr E....

Last Friday and today (Monday) I am/was the duty solicitor at Stratford Magistrates' Court.  The role of the duty solicitor is to advise and represent people who are appearing at court but who do not have a solicitor; there are a few more rules about who qualifies and who doesn't, but those aren't important right now. I am currently the custody duty solicitor, which means that I am here to advise and represent anybody arrested by the police and charged over the weekend..  I heard on the news last night that the Metropolitan Police deal with approximately 2,000 offences per day.  Stratford covers the Newham area of east London where I believe I am right in saying that Newham has a higher than average crime rate, although it's not one of the highest crime areas in London.  So, with an average of 4,000 crimes committed over the weekend plus those committed on Friday night that couldn't make it to court on Saturday morning you might expect there to be quite a bit of ...

I'm not one who usually jumps on the band wagon of slagging off modern exams as being too easy, but having just read the reports in the Times of some students results I must confess to being a bit worried. One young lady and another young man achieved eight A* at A-Level each.  This tells me that at least one of the following things is likely to be true: They have chosen subjects that are very easy; They have chosen difficult subjects that are hard but the content of the syllabus and exams are too easy; They are in desperate need of a life; or They are both geniuses and will one day rule us all... or attend Comic-Con regularly. I note that the young man's haul includes "critical thinking" and "general studies" both or which are joke qualifications.  In fairness, almost everything else he studied sounds bloody difficult to me: chemistry, maths, further maths, economics and history.  The remaining one is business studies, which could be difficult or...

I have just read a report that a magistrate claims to have been directed by the Government to imprison all rioters.  Not sure where this was originally reported. I cannot say whether this is true or not, but if the magistrates at Camberwell Green did accede to such a command then it would seem to be a breach of their oath as JP's as well as a breach of the Rule of Law.

The Labour Government sought to introduce plans to prevent acquitted defendants to criminal cases from recovering their costs from the prosecution.  In all cases, whether civil or criminal, it is said that "costs follow the event", which means that the losing side gets to pay the legal costs of the winning side.  In criminal courts up and down the country you will daily see defendants who have been convicted or pleaded guilty being ordered to pay the costs claimed by the prosecution.  Equally, if a defendant chooses to pay for his own defence and is acquitted then the prosecution has to repay him the money he spent defending himself. So, to be clear what we are talking about are people who have been accused of a crime and found to be not guilty of that crime by either a jury or a bench of magistrates. The Labour Government was judicially reviewed by those concerned about civil liberties (and no doubt some lawyers concerned about their income - let's not pretend that l...

This week has seen some rioting in the streets.  I am pleased to say that despite smashing up pretty much all of our neighbours my office on Mare Street, Hackney was left untouched.  I can only assume that having the massive words "CRIMINAL DEFENCE SOLICITORS" in the front window helped.  In fact, when I showed up on Tuesday morning the windows looked as though they'd had a good clean over night, which is nice if somewhat strange.  The offices appeared on the news throughout the night and during much of Tuesday - you probably caught a glimpse although there's no reason you would have realised it was a solicitors office from the TV.  If you saw the pictures of Ladbrookes being attacked in Hackney then we are a couple of doors along, mostly just out of shot.  Although, I have been wanting to check out our roof for a while as we have a leak and the HDTV shots gave me a great chance and happily it all looks good. Having watched the TV coverage on Monday night...