The scales of justice: do they need rebalancing? A non-politician looks at the criminal justice system

I am honoured to have been invited to give this lecture in memory of the Academy's past President, Sir Thomas Lund. Sir Thomas was one of the founder members of the Academy. He was Secretary-General of the Law Society from 1939, playing a prominent role in the establishment of the Legal Aid and Advice Scheme. Opportunities of this kind serve two complementary purposes: one is to afford a platform to share views that have been forming over a period of time and the other, perhaps more important, is to act as a spur or stimulus to thinking through more rigorously some of the issues that arise and which tend to get crowded out in the day-to-day press of routine business. I hope that, in the 7000 words that follow, you will find some with which you agree, some at least that stimulate thought and not too many with which you violently disagree.