News & Views

As Alderman Gregory Jones KC takes up his position as aldermanic Sheriff for the upcoming year, making him the first KC to be appointed sheriff in some 900 years. Having also been delighted to receive the nomination for the shrievalty in 11 months time, I have been reflecting on the realms of law and justice in support of the current sheriff as well as considering my own personal belief in it as a core value within our society.

September saw the installation of Alderman Gregory Jones KC as the Aldermanic Sheriff for the upcoming year, making him the first KC to be appointed Sheriff in some 900 years.

Having been delighted to receive the nomination for the shrievalty in 11 months time, I think reflecting on the rule of law and the importance of justice is apt. After all, the two Sheriffs of London spend their elected year living and working at the Old Bailey, the UK's central criminal court, crowned by a glittering figure of Justice. As it happens, 2025 also marks the 800th anniversary of the sealing of the 1225 version of Magna Carta, which enshrined the principle that no one, not even the monarch and their government is above the law.

I have therefore been thinking about the realms of law and justice, in support of the current sheriff as well as considering my own personal belief in it as a core value within our society.

Justice for all

Whilst I am a fund manager rather than lawyer, the law is a profession I have spent my life living adjacent to. My wife, Elspeth, is a lawyer, as is my sister and my cousin. The confines of the law, also, naturally work in tandem with delivering the best of all City business, not to mention the wider society of which we are all members.

Where recent events, as well as my nomination have found me ruminating however, is not merely on legislation but what justice actually means to us as a community. In the American constitution the 14th Amendment refers to 'justice for all'. In the UK in 2002, the Criminal Justice White Paper, Justice For All "outlined a coherent, long term strategy to modernise the criminal justice system from end to end – from detection through to rehabilitation of offenders." The phrase was then posed as a question in a 2017 speech by our now Foreign Secretary, David Lammy, looking at his review into race in the criminal justice system. Alongside a series of recommendations for a fairer system, he said:

"Nothing justifies criminal behaviour. People end up in prison when they make bad choices. But we also have to grasp what it is that leads them to do so."

Of course, these are just a few in a litany of times the phrase "justice for all" has been employed, entreating us to be our best and do our best by one another. It's as much an entreaty to the authorities as to individuals, to remember their duty to society. However, when we break it down, what does it mean both practically and ideologically?

My belief is that it can be best addressed in three parts:

• Justice for the accused
• Justice for survivors
• Justice for prison leavers

Justice for the accused

Innocent until proven guilty, or the presumption of innocence, has been a hallmark of the UK's legal system for a long time. The Ministry of Justice notes that the concept dates back to Ancient Rome, but it was officially provided for by section 6 of the Human Rights Act 1998.

The right to an unbiased defence, the speed of prosecution and reduction in the use of detention without trial, a clear understanding of one’s sentence including its term, its conditions and its consequences are all part of that process. We know that despite a robust and globally admired justice system, these are things that can always be improved upon as we continuously adapt to the demands of an ever-changing society, and at the moment all evidence indicates we are falling short.

In a sobering article in the Financial Times last weekend, titled How the English courts reached breaking point, journalist Henry Mance reports on the time to trial. His point is illustrated via the apology of Judge Charles Falk at Snaresbrook Crown Court in east London, to a defendant who will have to wait two years for a hearing, placing the lives of all involved on hold until that time. Mance writes: "So these defendants and victims learn what barristers have said for years: the criminal justice system of England and Wales is blocked and probably broken."

The article goes on to note that in early 2019 there were 33,000 cases outstanding in the Crown Courts, but by the end of 2023 that number had reached nearly 68,000. He adds: "There are no up-to-date figures because embarrassingly the Ministry of Justice has discovered problems with its data."

The legal maxim, ‘justice delayed is justice denied’, casts a gloomy shadow over our much lauded judicial system, with all parties suffering at every point in the process. Standout figures in Mance’s article include:

• "Since 2019, the average time between a crime happening and the Crown Court case ending has gone from 16 months to 22 months."
• "Between 2019 and 2023, the number of adult rape cases awaiting trial trebled to 2,786."
• "Some prisons such as Wandsworth had 50 per cent more prisoners than they could decently accommodate."
• "One in four trials now doesn’t go ahead as scheduled."

Another notable challenge to justice for the accused at the moment is the issue of remaining IPP prisoners. The indeterminate prison penalty (IPP), or a sentence without a set release date, is a concept that was removed from the Statute Book last year, but it still leaves a number of people without a definitive end date to their prison term.

Justice for survivors

Justice for survivors is a concept that I think we all appreciate, understand and want, but we see challenges to it play out everyday. Justice, or a lack thereof, for the people of Grenfell is widely reported for having still not been achieved seven years on - timely outcomes are a crucial part of justice for victims.

On another note, violence against women has been reported as a ‘national emergency’ in England and Wales. A 2024 National Police Chiefs’ Council analysis for violence against women and girls (VAWG) found:

• Over one million VAWG related crimes were recorded during 2022/23, accounting for 20% of all police recorded crime.
• Police recorded VAWG related crime increased by 37% between 2018/23.
• At least one in every 12 women will be a victim per year, with the exact number expected to be much higher.
• Child sexual abuse and exploitation increased by more than 400% between 2013 and 2022.
• They reported 3,000 VAWG offences are recorded each day.

Furthermore, there's a significant delay for justice. In March this year The Guardian reported that "more than 180 alleged rape victims have faced more than two years of delays since case first went to court", adding:

"According to CBA analysis, in the second quarter of last year a total of 211 bailed rape trials completed with an average charge to completion time of 558 days, compared with 262 bailed rape trials in the first quarter of 2018, with an average charge to completion time of 328 days."

In addition, the issue of modern slavery and human trafficking persists, with a 2023 House of Commons Committee report saying: "that there are at least 100,000 victims of modern slavery and human trafficking in the UK".

Justice for prison leavers

This year has seen the concept of justice for both victims and ex-offenders play out with particular questions both for the government and society with the overcrowding of our prisons.

With so many people leaving prison at any time, but especially with the wave of around 1,750 former offenders released early in September, the challenges of helping people to put their life back on an even keel cannot be dismissed.

The overall proven reoffending rate in the UK has fluctuated between 23.1% and 31.8% in recent years. While it's easy to blame the perpetrator, we know that there's a lack of adequate and consistent support for prison leavers (reported by the National Audit Office) which exacerbates the problem.

While it's a complex and multifaceted area, the lack of safe accommodation and employment opportunities are repeatedly cited as barriers to progress, and the latter is something I think the City is in a position to do more about.

A City of justice

I don't raise these topics to suggest that the City can solve them all, but I do believe that if we all do something then a lot can be achieved, and the City and its community are in a powerful collective position to raise awareness and drive change.

Philosophically, I believe in mercy and grace. Society and humanity need that to live a healthy life, otherwise we're constantly aggrieved. Flowing out of that you get forgiveness and redemption, and hopefully you also get more kindness, understanding and better outcomes.

In financial services we understand redemption in terms of bonds - when the term is served and the principal repaid, it matures and moves on - hopefully, having become richer in the process. Broadly speaking, it's a principle that works, perhaps it has greater application?