Alf Young
The generosity of spirit of First Nation Canadians, punished for speaking their language, is deeply moving
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Rear Window
Ian Hamilton QC visits the local shop
Amusements and diversions
5 August 1996
(Defending in a murder trial)
We QCs swan in and out of court apprently untouched by tragedy. Don’t be deceived. Our equanimity is a mask for misgiving. We are adrenalin junkies.
Now and again the trial is held up, and people shake their heads at the law’s delays, blaming the lawyers. Count the people involved, starting with 15 jurors, and you’ll find that it takes the attendance of 40 people every day to keep the High Court running. Any business employing 40 key staff would expect some absentees. We get them too, and they bring everything to a dead stop. I’m surprised that we make the speed we do. In Scotland we get through in a day what would take an English court a week. Scots lawyers are better educated, better trained and better lawyers than our English counterparts. I know because I’ve practicsed in two English jurisdictions. Such is the chip we Scots carry on our shoulder that any such comparison must be to our disadvantage or no one will believe it. Anyway what the hell have jurors to complain about? Theirs is the only compulsory service in peacetime in a free society.
From SR November 1996
He wakes every day wondering how to feed his family. He tells me they once went 15 days without any real food.
Tomorrow: Alan Fisher’s second despatch from Niger
Alan Fisher is an Al Jazeera correspondent
