The Lord Chancellor and his labour of loveThe two dominant legal stories of the week - Lord Irvine's Labour Party fundraising efforts and 24-hour courts - could eventually link nicely as there will presumably need to be plenty of new judges to staff such courts.In this week's 'cash for something' Whitehall row, the Lord Chancellor Lord Irvine - who, as head of the judiciary, is supposed to be non-partisan - caused widespread unease by sending a letter on Labour-headed notepaper to around 120 lawyers, asking them to give at least 200 at a fundraising dinner this month to 'help secure a second term for Labour'.The controversy - described by Labour supporting lawyers as 'a stupid thing to have done' and 'an abuse of power' (Guardian, 19 February) - drew attention to Lord Irvine's dual role as politician and head of the judiciary, and specifically the 'huge power of patronage he exercises in judicial appointments and promotion to the coveted rank of QC' (Guardian 19 February).

The Sunday Times, which broke the story, described the letter as 'outrageous', and claimed that it 'compromised his supposed neutrality, and placed barristers seeking to become QCs in a potentially invidious position' (18 February).

It quoted a leading barrister who described the letter as 'intimidating' and said that 'a lot of people feel they have to turn up if they want to become a QC'.But is the bench going to be a good, or at least restful, place to be in future? Perhaps not after the Metropolitan Police commissioner, Sir John Stevens, called for the introduction of US-style 24-hour courts in a Times interview (16 February), saying that 'the country was facing an alarming youth crime wave' and 'society quite honestly needs a rest from these people'.Although Home Secretary Jack Straw agreed that 'the time had come for more flexible court sittings' (The Times, 17 February), doubts were expressed by The Daily Telegraph - which warned that 24-hour courts 'would be very expensive and riddled with difficulties' (17 February).An Express editorial (17 February) admitted that 'our courts do need to be reformed', but warned that 'we most not diminish the standard of justice meted out', and grimly predicted that 'America has shown that 24-hour courts have done nothing to bring down crime levels, and instead have helped push the number of lawyers in the US to one million'.Mr Straw was busy this week on the pre-election anti-crime warpath - whilst not promoting round-the-clock justice, he was unveiling a 'raft of measures offering better police treatment for victims of crime' (Express, 17 February).He told Labour's pre-election spring conference that a second term for Labour would 'deliver sweeping rights for victims', and 'guarantee sensitive treatment for all those giving evidence in trials' (Express, 17 February).

Not only will this involve more witnesses being allowed to deliver written testimony to the courts, and victims of crime being told when their attacker is to be released from custody, but it will also mean that tariffs used to calculate compensation payments for crime victims will be raised significantly.

Fair treatment is presumably something that former Law Society President Tony Holland holds dear: in addition to chairing the Northern Ireland Parades Commission, the Local Government Chronicle (16 February) reported on his appointment as chairman of the National Standards Board for local authorities.

His task is to ensure the implementation of the national code of conduct for councillors, and admitted that in terms of diplomacy and reconciliation, 'nothing could be as bad' as chairing the Parades Commission.Finally, returning to the idea of a 24-hour zero tolerance justice system, spare a thought for hard-pressed Spanish judges.

The Times (16 February) reported how 'one of the last bastions of Spain's siesta culture is about to fall' as the charmingly named Justice Minister Angel Acerbes announced plans to - gasp - make judges and court officials work in the afternoon.Apparently judges have previously claimed that 'they needed the afternoon to catch up on their paperwork or their sleep', which has resulted in a 'painfully slow' justice system, with some cases taking up to 19 years to reach completion.Victoria MacCallum