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PROGRAMME INFO |
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The programme that tackles the big legal issues as well as the everyday ones without long words, small print or expensive fees. It is aimed at anyone who is interested in the way the law works - and sometimes doesn't work.
Send your comments to lawinaction@bbc.co.uk
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LISTEN AGAIN |
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PRESENTER |
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A lawyer turned journalist, he was a leader writer and legal correspondent for The Times before becoming freelance, since when he has written and broadcast on many different subjects for a wide range of newspapers, magazines, radio and television. He currently writes a weekly column on legal issues for The Guardian, and is lecturer on media law at the City University.
Past highlights have included devising and presenting the first television drama-documentary to feature real lawyers and judges doing their job (for London Weekend Television) and devising and editing the award-winning The Law Magazine.
He has written or co-written four books, including The Law Machine (with Clare Dyer, Penguin, 5th edition, 2000).
Apart from his output on legal themes, he is the crime fiction reviewer for The Times, used to set a weekly quiz for The Guardian and is a panelist on BBC Radio 4's Round Britain Quiz.
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| PROGRAMME DETAILS | | | |
|  | | Home Secretary David Blunkett with Inspector Julie Cook of Merseyside Police
Home Secretary David Blunkett has been very impressed with experiments he’s seen in America and now plans to set up Britain’s first Community Justice Centre in Liverpool. Its aim is to see if the judicial system can solve problems in the community as well as - or perhaps instead of - punishing the offenders. | |  | | Magistrates Courts are already becoming more 'community'-focused
There’s been a growing trend for courts to offer treatment rather than punishment to offenders. Most young offenders are dealt with by a system of intensive supervision, that involves setting targets and helping them to rehabilitate. Courts can even order their parents to attend classes too. Drug treatment orders work on the same basis. Addicts can attend special centres and if they succeed in kicking the habit, no further action is taken against them. Similar techniques have been tried in cases of domestic violence and with offenders suffering from mental health problems. If the schemes work, the benefits are clear. Treatment can be cheaper than punishment and if it cures the problem, there will be no repeat offending.
But there are big question-marks too. How many criminals want to be helped? Don’t judges make poor social workers? And is there a danger of blurring the message that people who break the law should pay for their crimes?
| |  | | Judge Alex Calabrese of New York's Red Hook Center
Damien Fowler reports from New York’s pioneering Red Hook Community Justice Center where Judge Alex Calabrese has the time, resources and range of options to deal with defendants in a tailored and constructive way.
Law in Action presenter Marcel Berlins talks to some of the people behind the project and discusses the concept of problem-solving justice with experts both here and in America, including New York’s Chief Judge Judith Kaye. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
RELATED LINKS
Problem-Solving Justice
BBCi 18 September 2003 - US court inspires Liverpool project
As plans for Britain's first community justice centre take shape, the BBC's Washington correspondent Matt Wells looks at the American project that inspired it.
BBCi 10 September 2003 – Neighbourhood court for Liverpool
The UK's first "local court for local problems" is to be built in Liverpool.
New York Center for Court Innovation
The CCI is a unique public-private partnership that serves as the New York State Unified Court System's independent research and development arm. By creating problem-solving courts and advancing the national conversation about justice, the Center aims to reduce crime, aid victims, strengthen communities and promote public trust in justice.
New York State Unified Court System website
Criminal Justice – Serving the Community
Report of the UK Conference held on 7th July 2003, including contributions from Lord Chief Justice Woolf, Home Secretary David Blunkett, and Judge Alex Calabrese of the Red Hook Project in New York
Home Office
Department for Constitutional Affairs
CJS Online – gateway to the criminal justice system
Government website for those working within the CJS and for citizens (such as witnesses and jurors) who require more general information and support.
Youth Offending Teams – Home Office guidance
Home Office - Drug Treatment and Testing Orders
Youth Justice Board - Intensive Supervision and Surveillance Programme
DISCLAIMER: The BBC is not responsible for the content of external links
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Audio Help
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| | PREVIOUS PROGRAMMES
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7 November 2003
Palace Denies Everything – but what, exactly?
- What it means for there to be ‘legal reasons’ for keeping quiet
- Choosing the sex of your child – where does the law stand?
- The foreigners detained without trial – does the Anti-Terrorism Act strike the right balance?
- ‘Phoning and driving: soon an even worse idea
- ‘Alien Torts’ and human rights – an 18th century law against pirates making powerful waves across the pond
31 October 2003
Aggravated Offences – is the law doing its job?
- Racially and religiously aggravated crimes – the problems of punishing ‘motive’
- Unlovely ‘spam’ – is there any escape?
- Suing the Council for crime – one couple’s last resort
- A single Equality and Human Rights Commission – but why?
24 October 2003
Drugs in Sport (again) – but is retrospective testing fair?
- Legal issues raised by the Dwain Chambers case.
- Satellite tracking – the future of offender tagging?
- The use of ‘bad character’ evidence in court – all about to change?
- The sins of the father? Why murderer’s children may soon get to inherit.
17 October 2003
Dennis Nilsen's autobiography - should the Prison Service give it back?
- Prisoners and their rights - is freedom of expression one of them?
- Stuck in a wheelchair for 15 months - can nurses legally refuse to lift?
- Legislating sexual behaviour - has the Government got it right?
-Law in Action's guide to this week's big House of Lords decisions.
10 October 2003
Secrecy and the Jury – time to open the door?
- House of Lords to hear arguments for opening up the jury process.
- France and the cosmetics industry challenge the EU animal testing ban in court.
- Selby train crash compensation – who should pay?
- Outsourcing the law – is legal advice about to move abroad?
3 October 2003
Women lose frozen embryo case - but is the law fair?
- High Court decides male ex-partners must be allowed to withdraw consent for embryos to be used.
- Autism and criminal responsibility - is a 'level playing field' really the right approach?
- Confidentiality and the law - when it'sillegal to spill the beans.
- Freedom of Religion in the armed forces? - the RAF Reservist fighting for the right not to fight.
Last Series - Summer 2003
1 August 2003
Happy Birthday to the mollusc that changed the legal world
- When police "sting" operations become illegal entrapment.
- What to be aware of if you're not the marrying kind.
- "Reasonable force" and the householder - how far can you go?
- The snail-contaminated drink that launched a thousand suits.
25 July 2003
Torture - a truly international crime
- Why British courts can try a foreigner for torture committed abroad.
- Chaos at Heathrow - can angry customers claim damages from BA?
- Will the Government's new approach to medical mistakes make the difference?
- Restorative justice - time to give it a chance?
- End of the road for the University Visitor?
18 July 2003
Reforming the Law Lords- why is it needed, and will it work?
- A Supreme Court for the UK - the rationale.
- New ways of appointing judges - should 'merit' really be all?
- Zeta Jones vs Hello! - compensating for distress.
- Discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation soon to be outlawed.
- Tackling the burgeoning crime of identity fraud.
11 July 2003
Military trial for Guantanamo suspects - will it be fair?
- Arguments for and against trying Guantanamo's 'unlawful combatants' in U.S. military tribunals.
- Human rights and the environment - the implications of the Government's 'night flight' victory in Strasbourg.
- A licence to entertain - will a new law stop the music?
- Recovering criminal assets under the new Act: 100 days on.
4 July 2003
Corporate manslaughter and Hatfield - how to make it stick.
- Charges due in the Hatfield rail crash case - the law on corporate manslaughter.
- IVF case- can embryos be used after one partner withdraws consent?
- When is trespass criminal?
- Community sentences - a good thing or not?
- Anti-smoking laws: do they work?
- All male juries in Gibraltar - are they legal?
27 June 2003
Aiming for diversity in university admissions – where does the law draw the line?
- Affirmative action law in the US and UK.
- Royal gatecrashing: what’s the crime?
- Human rights not violated by Scottish ban on hunting.
- Church repairs:'capricious' ancient law costs Aston Cantlow couple dear.
20 June 2003
Judging the judges - who should choose?
Special single-issue edition on judicial appointments.
13 June 2003
Suicide and the state - when it must let you die.
- The law in relation to suicide.
- Executed George Kelly's 1950 conviction quashed.
- Lawyers who do it for free.
- The end of the Irvine era: his legacy and the changes to come.
6 June 2003
Nothing to lose? - what you need to know about no win no fee.
- Conditional fee agreements.
- Looted artefacts: closing the legal loophole.
- UK Coroners system to be reformed.
- Travellers' rights and local authority injunctions : the balancing act.
30 May 2003
Stansted hijackers' convictions quashed - does the law on duress need to change?
- Hijacking and the defence of duress.
- Will the timeshare fraudster really get to keep his loot?
- Should you be 'registering' your village green?
- House of Lords gets to grips with privacy and the common law.
Link to factsheets from earlier series of Law in Action
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