Malcolm Fowler

Opinion
Dangers of the default mode
27 April 2020
Catherine Baksi’s report on the remotely conducted court hearing (8 April) is a crucial contribution to the detailed debate we really must have in preparation for the post-coronavirus legal landscape we all crave and need to work towards. Lest remote hearings might then too readily become the default position, here ...
Opinion
Parole Board independence reaffirmed
3 September 2018
I have previously identified the unqualified necessity for the independence of action and decision-making of the Parole Board to remain intact in the wake of the furore over the John Worboys case.
Opinion
Revered leader
9 July 2018
‘Slow to anger, swift to praise.’ The line from Tennyson came to mind on having learned of past-president Paul Marsh’s death.
Opinion
Board decision
7 May 2018
If victims are to have reader access to challenge Parole Board decisions, offenders must too.
Opinion
No charter for burglars
16 April 2018
One Gazette reader says 'it is impossible to improve upon the long-established application of the law of self-defence.'
Opinion
Be careful what you wish for
9 April 2018
If we are to avoid open season on its decisions, the Parole Board must survive Worboys with the crucial test of safety for release intact.
Opinion
Now hear this: live is best
12 March 2018
Malcolm Fowler is weary of the issues to arise from a ’rush towards video and other remote hearing formats’.
Opinion
Worboys: searching questions
15 January 2018
For the Parole Board to have its vital independence of decision-making diluted would be bad news for our handling of offender rehabilitation.
Opinion
Technology is no silver bullet
4 December 2017
Technology was, is and must always remain a tool leading to effective and better delivery of justice, rather than some panacea.
Opinion
Prison shame
23 October 2017
It is a source of immense pride to me and I am sure to many other Law Society members that solicitors such as the redoubtable Laura Janes continue to play a pivotal role in the endeavours of the Howard League for Penal Reform on behalf of the rights of offenders.
Opinion
Ducking the real issues
4 September 2017
Flexible courts is not where funding should be going.
Opinion
Empty the prisons
10 July 2017
Prison reform must be kept on the agenda.
Opinion
Ministerial machismo
12 June 2017
Additional, unproductive expense of longer court hours would quash what little public support there is for the plan.
Opinion
Gender and rehabilitation
22 May 2017
I agree with J Howard Shelley (letters, 10 April). On prisons and prison policy, it is without question right that gender considerations and concerns must go towards informing the treatment of and efforts to rehabilitate all inmates. That said, it is equally important that it should remain just one of ...
Opinion
Brexit, judges and the rule of law: make a stand
28 November 2016
We must stand up and be counted for democratic maturity.
Opinion
The case for due process – Ched Evans
31 October 2016
No two cases are ever the same.
Opinion
Iraq: in defence of our raison d’être
3 October 2016
I was proud to have Phil Shiner as a constituent. But for his efforts, many a vulnerable client would never have secured justice.
Opinion
No respect for interpretation
5 September 2016
Claims over respecting interpreters’ human rights will remain hollow – unless there are changes.
Opinion
Stealth tax on defendants
18 July 2016
It is contrary to natural justice for an additional sanction to be applied over and above each defendant’s just deserts.
Opinion
Court repeat
13 June 2016
New money is needed for court-monitored community disposals.