Back to the Future justice
As the world celebrated 'Back to the Future Day' this week, much was written about what the hit 80s film got right and got wrong when it predicted what life would be like in 2015.
While hoverboards and flying cars have yet to materialise, and the Jaws franchise failed to spawn 18 sequels, video calls on giant television screens and Google Glass-esque specs have become a part of modern life.
But what of one of the film's most shocking predictions about the future of the criminal justice system?
'Within two hours of his arrest, Martin McFly junior was tried, convicted, and sentenced to 15 years in the state penitentiary. Within two hours?' cries an incredulous Marty McFly.
'The justice system works swiftly in the future now that they've abolished all lawyers,' replies Doc.
While legal aid cuts and Ministry of Justice reforms tend to be towards the view of swift unrepresented justice, the reality is anything but.
A combination of delays caused by G4S, a privatised probation service, Capita's translator failings, overworked judges and prosecutors, resigning magistrates, and crumbling court infrastructure, means that justice is anything but swift in 2015.
But who knows what the next 30 years will bring…?
