FOR THIS GOVERNMENT, A FAIR TRIAL CAN ONLY END WITH A GUILTY VERDICT

If the character of a government is defined by its legislative obsessions,
then Tony Blair's administration ought to be remembered for criminal
justice reform. Under Margaret Thatcher, substantial Acts changing trade
union law became a biennial event. Under Mr Blair, there have already been
14 Acts affecting the criminal justice system. Most of these are minor,
while the major changes have pulled in opposite directions - the Human
Rights Act 1998 in a liberal one, the three anti-terrorist Acts in an
illiberal one.

Now come the big changes: next week the Home Secretary publishes a White
Paper setting out "a wide-ranging programme of reform" for the criminal
justice system. This will lead to a Bill in the Queen's Speech this autumn
and an Act next year. From the draft of the White Paper which we publish
today, however, the plans fall short of the clarity of the Thatcher trade
union reforms.

Some of the White Paper is sensible enough, although too often expressed in
the kind of bureaucratic jargon which does little to persuade the reader
that it has a grasp of the nuts and bolts of reform. It speaks of "seamless
working", "joined-up systems" and "clean lines of accountability". Some of
it, however, represents a dangerous erosion of the principles of justice.
Several of these measures have been trailed in advance, but when they are
collected in one document and introduced by a preamble of breathtaking
ignorance, the full weight of Mr Blunkett's authoritarian bias becomes evident.

The theme of the chapter on "fairer, more effective trials" is that too
many guilty people escape justice. "We will not allow the process to be
treated as a game of snakes and ladders by the defence as a tactic to get
people off," declares the draft. "There are too many cases in which
tactical manoeuvres designed to secure acquittals by disrupting the process
mean the right verdict is not reached."

That is a chilling statement. Despite assuring us that the principle that
an individual is innocent until proven guilty is "sacrosanct", the
objective of this White Paper is to ensure more "right" - that is, guilty -
verdicts are reached. That means allowing defendants' previous convictions
to be known in court and allowing people to be tried twice for the same
offence a " both of which effectively bring in a presumption of guilt.

It means finding other ways to restrict the right to jury trial, after the
direct method was thrown out by the House of Lords. Thus magistrates will
be able to try more cases and Crown courts with juries will try fewer,
while judges will be able to dismiss juries if they say they are being
intimidated and hear the case themselves.

To describe the work of defence lawyers as games and tactics is as
offensive as it is uninformed. Their duty is " as Mr Blunkett would want it
to be if they were defending him " to present the best case for their clients