In Oliver Twist, after being told that the law supposes that a wife acts under the husbands direction Mr Bumble, states:
If the law supposes that,â?? said Mr. Bumble,â?¦ â??the law is a assâ??a idiot. If thatâ??s the eye of the law, the law is a bachelor; and the worst I wish the law is that his eye may be opened by experienceâ??by experience.â??
I don’t think thats it’s necessary for the law (and its representatives) actually need experience personally that which they are passing judgement upon – but a little experience may be a good thing.
Judge Peter Openshaw is trying a case where alleged Islamic radicals have used a website to post “violent Islamist material” unfortunately Judge Openshaw has had to interrupt the questioning of the witnesses to be taught what websites are. Not good, he should have done his homework in advance.
“The trouble is I don’t understand the language. I don’t really understand what a Web site is,” he told a London court during the trial of three men charged under anti-terrorism laws.
Prosecutor Mark Ellison briefly set aside his questioning to explain the terms “Web site” and “forum.” An exchange followed in which the 59-year-old judge acknowledged: “I haven’t quite grasped the concepts.” (yahoo)
Slightly scary…