A recent study highlights the fragile & fractured nature of our justice system, says Jon Robins
There was something for all the press in a recent study of different judicial systems published by the Council of Europe earlier this month. “We spend seven times more on legal aid than the French”, was the suitably outraged headline in the Daily Mail. “Women make up only 25% of judges in England and Wales,” was The Guardian’s take on the same story. The report revealed that women make up only 25% of judges in England and Wales—only Azerbaijan and Armenia fared worse. “Norway tops European legal aid spending table,” was how the Law Society Gazette reported the story.
“The £2bn Britain spends each year dwarfs every other country in Europe,” harrumphed the Daily Mail. Our legal aid spend is compared with France’s £290m and Germany’s £272m. In England and Wales the average spend of £26.59 per head far outstripped the European average of £7. We were only beaten by the Norwegians (£39.90).
Adversarial v inquisitorial
The line trotted out by justice ministers
