Daily: How an “activist prosecutor” took on Britain’s broken justice system

Content warning: Includes discussion of sexual violence and abuse. What is it like being an “activist prosecutor” in a legal system hampered by institutional prejudice and often indifference? Former chief prosecutor Nazir Afzal tells The Observer’s Nick Cohen about his memoir The Prosecutor: One Man’s Pursuit for Justice for the Voiceless and what it reveals about British justice. Why are marginalised young women so badly served by our justice system? How might COVID transform that system? And is “cultural sensitivity” a cover for failures on racial and class prejudice?

• “Police and prosecutors often use excuses to cover the fact that ‘This is really difficult, why are we bothering?’”
• “The idea of ‘working in the interests of justice’ got changed to ‘working in the interest of just us’.”
• “Our legal system is stuck in the past and isn’t updating with any speed.”
• “One police station has been sold to a pizza restaurant. And do you know who owns it? Organised crime.”

Presented by Nick Cohen. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers Jelena Sofronijevic and Jacob Archbold. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production

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