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Time to rebalance the scales?

02 February 2018 / David Locke
Issue: 7779 / Categories: Opinion
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David Locke warns against the rush to abandon due process

If justice is a moveable feast, then due process is the only protection for individuals against the volatility of public opinion and those who depend upon popular support for their authority. We would do well to remember that in every real and imagined dystopian nightmare, it is the removal of due process which paves the way for the imposition of authoritarian control.

Defining justice

What is justice? Once you think you have a definition, contrive a hypothetical situation and put it to 12 of your peers. Ask them to explain what they consider would be a just outcome. Do this individually so there is no peer pressure and the chances are that you will get 12 different answers. At that point, noting the temptation to simply substitute your own judgment in the matter, return to the opening question and ask yourself once again: what is justice?

The exercise might persuade you that justice is just a mirage, always shifting gently and out of reach.

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Charles Russell Speechlys—Matthew Griffin

Charles Russell Speechlys—Matthew Griffin

Firm strengthens international funds capability with senior hire

Gilson Gray—Jeremy Davy

Gilson Gray—Jeremy Davy

Partner appointed as head of residential conveyancing for England

DR Solicitors—Paul Edels

DR Solicitors—Paul Edels

Specialist firm enhances corporate healthcare practice with partner appointment

NEWS
The proposed £11bn redress scheme following the Supreme Court’s motor finance rulings is analysed in this week’s NLJ by Fred Philpott of Gough Square Chambers
In this week's issue, Stephen Gold, NLJ columnist and former district judge, surveys another eclectic fortnight in procedure. With humour and humanity, he reminds readers that beneath the procedural dust, the law still changes lives
Generative AI isn’t the villain of the courtroom—it’s the misunderstanding of it that’s dangerous, argues Dr Alan Ma of Birmingham City University and the Birmingham Law Society in this week's NLJ
James Naylor of Naylor Solicitors dissects the government’s plan to outlaw upward-only rent review (UORR) clauses in new commercial leases under Schedule 31 of the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill, in this week's NLJ. The reform, he explains, marks a seismic shift in landlord-tenant power dynamics: rents will no longer rise inexorably, and tenants gain statutory caps and procedural rights
Writing in NLJ this week, James Harrison and Jenna Coad of Penningtons Manches Cooper chart the Privy Council’s demolition of the long-standing ‘shareholder rule’ in Jardine Strategic v Oasis Investments
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