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Please can we stop religious oaths in the legal process?

Totally agree with the sentiments expressed. Reminds me of my days as a magistrates' legal advisor (or "court clerk" as we were then known). Unfortunately, the memory fails with increasing years so I cannot remember exactly where this occurred, but it was either Lewes or Oldham Magistrates' Court where I had been sent to assist. Whilst the magistrates' were out considering a sentence, I was talking to the prosecutor and defence lawyer and was stood by the witness box. I then noticed that the New Testament placed by the oath book was not the New Testament at all .... it was a Collins pocket English Dictionary Who knows how long it had been there. I asked the usher in court and he said the book had been there for ages. He was as surprised as me when I showed him what the book was. We kept quiet .... did not want a whole parcel of appeals arriving on the Justices' Clerk's desk ... but did ask the usher to make sure it was replaced asap

10-Feb-2012

5:20 pm