header-logo header-logo

Home Login E-newsletter About us

Time to rebalance the scales?

© Copyright LexisNexis 2025. All Rights Reserved.
02 February 2018 / David Locke
Issue: 7779 / Categories: Opinion
printer mail-detail
nlj_7779_locke

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.

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Read All
Sponsored by
DWF—19 appointments

DWF—19 appointments

Belfast team bolstered by three senior hires and 16 further appointments

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Firm strengthens leveraged finance team with London partner hire

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Double hire marks launch of family team in Leeds

NEWS
Read All
NLJ this week: DNA evidence—justice on ice?
In this week's NLJ, Steven Ball of Red Lion Chambers unpacks how advances in forensic science finally unmasked Ryland Headley, jailed in 2025 for the 1967 rape and murder of 75-year-old Louisa Dunne. Preserved swabs and palm prints lay dormant for decades until DNA-17 profiling produced a billion-to-one match
NLJ this week: Fraud claims climb as courts brace for AI threats
Charlie Mercer and Astrid Gillam of Stewarts crunch the numbers on civil fraud claims in the English courts, in this week's NLJ. New data shows civil fraud claims rising steadily since 2014, with the King’s Bench Division overtaking the Commercial Court as the forum of choice for lower-value disputes
NLJ this week: Pro bono power without the red tape
Bea Rossetto of the National Pro Bono Centre makes the case for ‘General Practice Pro Bono’—using core legal skills to deliver life-changing support, without the need for niche expertise—in this week's NLJ
NLJ this week: Trans pool player loses discrimination fight
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve reports on Haynes v Thomson, the first judicial application of the Supreme Court’s For Women Scotland ruling in a discrimination claim, in this week's NLJ
NLJ this week: Traders’ convictions quashed in Libor shock
The Supreme Court issued a landmark judgment in July that overturned the convictions of Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo, once poster boys of the Libor and Euribor scandal. In NLJ this week, Neil Swift of Peters & Peters considers what the ruling means for financial law enforcement
Copyright © 2025 LexisNexis
back-to-top-scroll