JUSTICE AS IT SHOULD BE DONE

The terrible murder of Joanna Yeates in Bristol just before Christmas should give us a stark reminder of what we face losing when the European system of law, Corpus Juris, eventually replaces our long standing legal system, Habeas Corpus.

As with most things EU our various governments of differing shades, be they red, blue or the current two-tone coalition, quietly implement the EU’s demands without really explaining to the people what they are doing. Our Magistrates Courts which have served us well for so long are being undermined and our jury system phased out as the EU’s Corpus Juris is stealthily introduced. Double jeopardy has gone which means the state can retry a person originally found innocent in a court of law for the same crime over and over again until it gets the result it wants and many people are finding they are accused and presumed guilty of crimes and have to prove their innocence rather than the authorities proving their guilt – which is all part of Corpus Juris.

With the Joanna Yeates case the procedures followed by the police is just how British law should be conducted. Her landlord, who does not quite fit the profile of a normal person as he has a few eccentricities, was obviously a prime suspect and detained for questioning. Under British law the police can only detain a person for a limited time, they did apply to the courts for an extension but when that additional time lapses they have to either let him go or charge him as long as they have enough evidence to satisfy the courts. In this case the suspect, who was always presumed innocent, was let go and other leads are now being investigated.

On the continent Joanna’s landlord may have been arrested and presumed guilty, their system meant he could have been detained without rights for as long as they wanted while they gathered evidence against him. A lazy police force may find this system preferable as an arrested oddball may suit them but justice would not be done and the real killer or killers never found. Our system has forced the police to look further which may not be convenient as we all want to get such a maniac off our streets as soon as possible, but it has to be the right person and not one that fits the bill.

Whoever the police finally arrest and charge, will still be considered innocent right up until the moment a jury, after hearing all the evidence, makes its decision. On the continent the poor soul arrested and decided by the police that this is the guilty person, will at some stage face a trial without jury and tried by judges who may not be impartial and may even have had pressure put on them to find the person in the dock guilty for political reasons – this can’t happen here yet, but be warned – it’s on its way.

Thanks to our relatively fair system of justice when Joanna’s killer gets put away, we can all be reassured justice has been done, when Corpus Juris rules, as it will if we remain in the EU, we will never be sure.