It is almost hilarious to see the scramble for cover by the legal profession and the church in the aftermath of the " Ellis Defence " fiasco. There seems to be uncertainty about who actually gave the instruction to claim that John Ellis was not abused by a priest, despite an internal church report accepting that this had happened. It also raised the question of whether an " ethical standard " had been breached by those legal figures taking that stance in court.
It should be quite clear that the entire legal profession has absolutely nothing to do with the concept of delivering justice. The system is based on an " adversarial " concept and how the law is administered depends on which side of the divide an individual is employed. They are either in the realms of " prosecution " - or " Defence ".
The legal people don't really give a tinker's curse whether the accused is innocent or guilty. They simply have a job to do - and their reputation and income depends heavily on achieving success at that job. A prosecutor who delivers too many " not guilty " verdicts is soon out of a job and a defence attorney with a poor success rate finds it hard to attract clients.
They hone their legal skills at law school and when they go into court they must abide by a set of rules - much in the same way as a football team must obey the ruling of the umpire. In a law court, the " umpire " is the judge or the magistrate who rules on what is and what is not permitted under whatever law applies.
The people who prosecute or defend in court usually have nothing to do with the decision to send the case to court. They are the mere instruments of a well oiled machine that is supposed to give the illusion of justice. The actual decision is made in a murky world of legal precedent, politics - and often commercial interests which include staggering amounts of money. In law - there is no certainty !
In today's world - the media is the new ringmaster. If a case has the right mix of contention, public interest, interesting people - and it helps if a little lurid sex is somewhere in the mix - it will feature in the six o'clock news. The spin doctors are adept at presenting it in a sensational way - and with the right treatment it can morph into people in the streets waving placards and demanding a verdict that suits their views.
It was Shakespeare that said " all the world's a stage " ! Getting caught up in the legal system is a nightmare to be avoided at all costs.. The chance of receiving justice is remote - and mounting a decent defence will cost a pot of money.
The lucky ones are those who can morph their experience into a fee for interview from the media - and the really lucky ones are those who hit the jackpot of a book deal or television rights. !
No comments:
Post a Comment