Our new government is taking immediate action to repair the dire state of criminal justice, in particular the shortage of prison places. This will entail the early release of some prisoners to make space for those newly sentenced. The prime minister has also made a welcome commitment to continued adherence to the European Convention on Human Rights and to international law more generally. The King’s Speech, delivered on 17 July, promises a plethora of new legislation on a wide range of topics. Much of it will create new sources of disagreement, between landlords and tenants, employers and workers, and others. These will be added to the already appalling deficiencies in access to legal advice and to the courts. How will the government address these? We already have the recipe, enshrined in our law since 1215. Clause 40 of Magna Carta says: ‘To no one will we sell, to no one will we deny or delay right or justice.’
The tenure of the
