Dear Baya,

    How can we find a way to settle our disputes fairly? Is there a difference between law and justice? Is justice and the judicial process the same everywhere in the world? Where did our well known system of English Law come from?

   You may be surprised that I’m asking you these rather abstract questions, but I’ve begun to realize two things. The first is how very important our legal system is for our sense of security and freedom. The second is that I am abysmally ignorant about the basic principles of how our system works. When visitors from other countries ask me what the ‘rule of law’ means, or why juries are so important, or whether the English have ever included torture in their legal procedures, I haven’t a clue.

     So could you provide a really simple, broad-brush, account covering these things? When I’ve glanced at books they usually put me off with lots of jargon and quickly become abstract and dry.

     Yet surely the way we face the constant conflicts in our society – between people, between people and governments, about ideas and ideologies – should be really interesting? After all, detective stories and even legal series on TV can be really gripping. So it should be possible for you to explain my legal world and how it differs from those in other societies in a way which is both comprehensible and not dull.

     It might even be useful! I’ll soon be old enough to be called for jury service. And I’m sure to get into trouble of some kind – or my friends are. A little legal knowledge would be great.

Your loving,