John Worboys

Hard cases make bad law - an expression I have used before, and doubtless will use again.  The Worboys case is an example.  He was convicted of 19 offences of rape and sexual assault in 2009 and sentenced to a minimum term of eight years.  Having served this minimum term the Parole Board recommended that he be released from prison.  This created a furore and the High Court has overturned that decision and sent the case back to the Parole Board for "fresh determination" - i.e. change your decision.  The chair of the Board has resigned as a result.  Why is this all bad?  The Parole Board is an independent body which does not publish its deliberations.  And with good reason - as this case makes clear.  Now the Chair of the Board - a man of the utmost probity - has lost his job, the Board's independence has been put at risk, it's future decisions will now come under intense scrutiny and it may well be forced to publish its reasoning in future cases - which will simply result in a spate of challenges.  The High Court in this case may in fact have come to the right decision - but for the wrong reasons, and I fear the justice system will be the poorer for it.