Law commission puts traditional liberties in jeopardy

In a week dominated by reports be they Budgets, passport inquiries, or investigations into fair trading standards the law got a look in thanks to...In a week dominated by reports be they Budgets, passport inquiries, or investigations into fair trading standards the law got a look in thanks to the proposed scrapping of the centuries old double jeopardy rule.

Double jeopardy the 12th century legal principle rather than the 20th century Hollywood film means that a person cannot be tried for the same crime twice, come confession, compelling new evidence, hell or high water.

However, under last weeks proposals, which were put forward by the Law Commission, and supported by Home Secretary Jack Straw, but roundly condemned by civil liberties organisations, retrials would be possible in murder cases where compelling new evidence came to light.Broadly speaking, the newspapers opposed the proposals, with The Independent passionately calling on the government in the interests of justice to ignore the commissions proposals (7 March).

The commissions recommendations are not even the thin end of the wedge, The Independent claims, and these proposals should make us feel queasier still, as the abolition of the double jeopardy rule strikes at the very heart of the jury system.

Perhaps surprisingly, The Daily Telegraph also came out strongly against the disturbing (7 March) proposals, claiming they fit into an emerging pattern, one where traditional liberties and rights appear to be held in ever lower regard by ministers and the judicial authorities.

Although admitting that nobody wants to see people getting away with murder, The Telegraph paints a somewhat apocalyptic picture, claiming that if Mr Straw and his colleagues get their way, the right to trial by jury will be restricted, juries will be informed of a defendants previous convictions, and unconvicted people could find themselves locked up on suspicion that they may commit a crime.

It was left to The Guardian for an opposing view, reluctantly agreeing with the commission that it is time to scrap the rule (7 March).

Although expressing concern that any law dating back to Roman times should not be lightly overturned, it argued that there have been too many cases where people cleared of murder have subsequently bragged about their guilt, and concluded that civilised societies should seek to stop murderers getting off scot free.

In other news, Jack Straw this week began a legal battle to protect women who allege that they have been raped from facing questions in court about their sex lives.

The Times (12 March) reported how the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999, recently introduced to protect victims, was under threat following a successful Court of Appeal challenge by a man who claimed that it constituted an infringement of his human right to a fair trial.

However, Mr Straw took on the mantle of protector of the weak, and will be challenging the ruling in the House of Lords later in the year, in an attempt to avoid embarrassment for the government if a new law is declared to be in breach of the Human Rights Act.From one old chestnut, the Human Rights Act, to another, with the Sunday Telegraph (11 March) reporting on Britains increasingly litigious society where the police force faces a 7 million bill as officers learn to sue.

The annual bill for compensating officers which is enough to employ about 250 extra police is a result of cases such as the police dog handler claiming 15,000 because he claims the barking of police alsatians left him partially deaf, and the police motorcyclist compensated for loss of hearing caused by wind whistling through his helmet.

And finally, some bad and perhaps surprising news for lawyers.

Used to being the butt of fat cat jokes, Londons Metro newspaper (8 March) reported on a survey by the Office of National Statistics which revealed that solicitors are in fact only eighth in the best-paid professions.

Cash-strapped lawyers would do well to move through the ranks of the police force, as inspectors and above rate as the sixth best-paid profession, computer system managers (seventh) and even doctors, who come second only to company financial managers.Victoria MacCallum