I have seen a lot of internet talk on Keir Starmer's previous role as Director of Public Prosecutions. In the past, there has been some discussion of the (non) prosecution of police over the deaths of Ian Tomlinson and Juan Charles de Menezes. Currently, the discussion is focusing on the (non) prosecution of an MI5 officer in relation to the alleged torture of Binyam Mohamed and the (non) prosecution of Gary McKinnon.
The law is a particularly important subject for the left. The justice system has deep and abiding problems with treating the poor and minorities unfairly, for a number of reasons - cuts to legal aid stopping people from getting proper representation, the cost of qualifying as a lawyer and the resulting domination of the legal circuit by a particular class, and institutional racism, amongst other things. It is very important that the left understand how the justice systems works, and what role the different parts play.
This is why I am very disappointed with discussion of Starmer's tenure as DPP, and why I am writing this post to help explain how the DPP works.
Before we begin, a brief history lesson. The modern structure of the English criminal courts has had a long journey, and predates most modern English legal institutions. Before the early 1800s, there was only prosecution, plain and simple. Anyone could theoretically prosecute anyone else, and indeed the principle way that criminals were tried was for their victims to bring what we would now call private prosecution cases against them. Indeed, English law had always been very suspiscious of giving "the government" or public bodies a distinct role in the law - the rights of private individuals were paramount.
For crimes where you might say 'the state' was the victim (for example, treason or producing counterfeit coinage) or where the victim themselves would be unable to bring proceedings (murder), or where there was sufficient political interest, then the person who brought the case would be the Attorney General. I say sufficient political interest because this is and was a political role - the Attorney General is to this day a member of the Cabinet and is currently the Conservative MP Michael Ellis. Historically, this was only a tiny, tiny fraction of cases.
This system had a clear problem, which is that most people don't have the time, resources, or expertise to bring prosecution cases, especially as rules about evidence and other procedural safeguards became more complex. A lot of
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