Ashhurst, Bentham & British justice, Geoffrey Bindman QC reports
The celebration of the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta has produced an outpouring of euphoria and self-congratulation on the virtues of our legal system. And it is true that its principles have been hugely influential in establishing the rule of law throughout the world. Yet there is scepticism on two fronts. The fear of terrorism leads governments and sometimes judges to overstep its fundamental safeguards of personal liberty. Second, its promise of equal justice is increasingly undermined by restrictions on access to the courts to a privileged minority. There is an interesting historical parallel.
Mr Justice Ashhurst was appointed to the Court of King’s Bench in 1770 in succession to the renowned Sir William Blackstone. Little known to the public for more than 20 years, he became famous overnight after delivering a charge to the Middlesex Grand Jury on 19 September 1792. This was his instruction to the jurors to indict a number of individuals for sedition. They were accused of publishing pamphlets urging reform in Britain similar to the demands of the French revolutionaries whose
