Toronto Star:
James Morton
Some years ago I was sitting in a busy criminal courthouse. As I waited for my case to be called I realized something startling — all the accused were young black men and all the lawyers, clerks and judges were white men. There were no women in court at all.
An old legal maxim says "not only must justice be done; it must also be seen to be done." For that to happen the judiciary must, to some degree at least, reflect the community they judge. A judiciary alien to the community cannot help but appear insensitive to the reality of life as experienced by ordinary litigants.
Diversity bypasses the bench: http://bit.ly/y5YcSq #lpc12
2 comments:
From the perspective of fairness and equity, it's hard to disagree with you. But, from the perspective of individuals finding themselves before individual judges, the logic seems a little problematic. Do women defendants get women judges, etc.?
I'm paying devil's advocate to some degree, but "the bench" doesn't act and judge collectively (unlike Parliament, where a similar argument would be insurmountable).
Fair point!
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