How plea deals fail justice
Fans of American crime documentaries will be familiar with the plea deal.
A person who has been arrested agrees to plead guilty in return for a lesser sentence.
This turns the justice system into a game of roulette where players decide whether to take the safe option or play the high risk high reward game.
The problem is that this is now going too far and people are pleading guilty to crimes they know they didn't commit. Prosecutors are judged by their records and therefore rig the game in their favour.
We are beginning to see this worrying trend cross the Atlantic and become more prevalent in the UK; and not just in criminal law.
In this week's episode of the podcast we examine a plea deal gone wrong in the area of competition law. Here the Competition and Markets Authority are masters of their domain and wield their discretion to cut deals with companies left, right and centre.
In this case different deals were done with different companies even though the facts of the case were identical. We find out whether the Supreme Court saw fit to level the playing field.
Episode link: http://uklawweekly.com/2018-uksc-25/
Subscribe on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/uk-law-weekly/id1137316725?mt=2