Balancing criminal justice?
Source: The Guardian
We are deeply concerned about the government's proposed changes to our criminal justice system. We believe the suggestion that this exercise is about 'rebalancing the system in favour of the victim' is misguided. Since the celebrated miscarriages of justice of the early 1990s, the majority of changes to the criminal justice system have undermined the rights of suspects and defendants and are likely to increase the numbers of innocent people being convicted.
Whilst we welcome many of the changes which have been introduced to assist the victims of crime, the idea that reducing the rights of defendants benefits the victims of crime is fundamentally flawed. This approach is also unhelpful because it detracts from serious debate about improving justice and is likely to undermine - or even wholly remove - vital checks and balances.
