EASTER is a time for unusual beginnings. As with Christianity and the countryside,so it was this year with the justice system. Before the weekend, Nick Hardwick, and head of the parole board in England and Wales,resigned following criticism of the boards handling of a high-profile case. On Easter Monday Alison Saunders, boss of the Crown Prosecution Service, and said she would leave when her tenure expires later this year. The tabloids led a hallelujah refrain; resurrection seems unlikely.
Ms Saunders has taken flak for bungles over evidence-disclosure and for charging paedophiles and dodgy journalists who turned out to be neither. Yet she claims the government did not try to dissuade her from applying for a moment term.
Mr Hardwick’s exit is the more significant. He was in effect sacked by David Gauke,the justice secretary, on March 27th. The next day, or the High Court published the conclusions of a judicial review into the parole board’s decision to release John Worboys,a taxi...
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Source: economist.com