Legal Opinion: Endless new criminal laws that lead to injustice
More than 50 new criminal justice bills have been introduced in the last decade. Such a welter of complex legislation is taking its toll, says Robert Verkaik, Law Editor
Published: 31 October 2007
Clarity and certainty form the bedrock of any fair criminal justice system. So it is alarming to discover that in one recent case the Court of Appeal was so confouded by a raft of new laws that it couldn't decide whether a defendant was innocent or guilty.
The case was raised by Sir Igor Judge, one of Britain's most experienced judges, who said that the court's failure to get to grips with the law meant that an innocent man spent time in prison.
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But it is difficult to hide from the statistics. In the last 10 years Labour has has created more than 3,000 new criminal offences, passed 115,000 pages of legislation and introduced more than 50 Bills, including 24 criminal justice measures. Compare this with the 60 years between 1925 and 1985 when governments of different colours managed to get by with only six Criminal Justice Acts, an average of one every decade.
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Sir Igor said: "My concern here is not just the quantity of legislation, the absence of certainty, the vast increase in complication in the sentencing process. It can also produce injustice."
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