The Secret Barrister: Stories of the Law and How It's Broken

by The Secret Barrister

The judge’s solution to our impasse was ingenious. He directed that the CPS District Prosecutor attend court to explain his decision in person. Sure enough, no sooner had those words left my lips and whizzed down the receiver did the curt reply spring forth: ‘Look, just offer no evidence. Goodbye.’ After months of head-thumping wrangling, sensible instructions were finally forthcoming. But it took the threat of having to leave the snug confines of his office, enter the den of the criminal courts and publicly justify his decision, to make that jobsworth apply his mind to the genuine interests of the victims and the public. This is far from an exceptional tale. And, I would come to learn, far from an exceptional course taken by the judge.