Reviewed by: David Pickup
Author: Katherine Doolin, John Child, John Raine and Anthony Beech
Publisher: Waterside Press
Price: £25

Crime is a political football and always has been; each government wants to be seen to be tougher on criminals and yet also cut the prison population.

There are no votes in being gentle with criminals, or with lawyers for that matter. The Daily Mail says there are more lawyers than police, and its writers do not see this as a positive.

Whose Criminal Justice? is a collection of essays on various aspects of criminal justice policy.

It is a somewhat academic book, although not all the contributions are from academics.

The book is perhaps too academic for us simple lawyers and a few short sharp sentences would be good. Divided into two main sections, the role of the state and the part played by the local community, it comes out at a time when some of the policies of New Labour are morphing into the Big Society of the present coalition government.

The main problem is that governments are under pressure to deal with crime and each initiative does not really work. Do you remember restorative justice, boot camps; hug a hoodie and all the rest?

The book discusses various topics in an interesting way, such as ASBOs, the treatment of minorities, and the host of sentencing initiatives and ideas that have been dreamed up. One wonders if they are simply words. Do we remember, 'Tough on crime, tough on causes of crime'?

The reality is that crime is complex, and as government initiatives are only intended to secure votes; one aspect is the increasing status of the victim. The fifth aim of the National Offender Management Services is to ensure that victims feel justice has been done. That surely is just verbiage. It looks nice and appealing to the voter but what does it mean? What if the victim does not feel justice has been done? Is he or she entitled to take the law into their own hands?

Increasingly, crime is being civilised. I do not mean criminals are being taught elocution, but the civil law is used more than the criminal. Civil law orders are used in place of what used to be criminal law.

The burden of proof, which was inconveniently high in crime, is reduced in civil law. More and more crime is dealt with by instant cautions and penalties, circumventing inconvenient, costly and lengthy things like trials. Lawyers are left to mop up the person who did not understand the consequence of admitting a serious crime and having a caution.

Not only is the civil law being used but criminal concepts are blurred. The courts are used to prevent things happening rather than punish the offender. Suspects are restrained, controlled and worst of all 'managed'. Offences now include preparation, grooming, planning or supporting crime rather just doing it.

It is the lawyer who is caught up in this, whether he or she is defending or prosecuting. Not only is there the challenge of keeping up with whatever is flavour of the month or the latest idea but also these more worrying trends.

David Pickup is a partner at Aylesbury-based Pickup & Scott

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