The other officers, re-appointed at the October meeting of the Council,
are:
Chairman of Council: Sir John Foster
Vice-Chairman:
Hon. Treasurer:
Executive Committee
Lord Foot
Michael Bryceson
The Executive Committee consists of the officers, together with Philip English, Edward Gardner, Roy Goode, William Goodhart, Muir Hunter, Philip Kimber, Blanche Lucas, Edward Lyons, Michael Sherrard, Laurence Shurman, Charles Wegg-Prosser, William Wells and David Widdicombe. Alec Samuels, our Director of Research, is an ex-officio member.
Finance and Membership Committee
This committee consists of Michael Bryceson (Chairman), Paul Sieghart, Philip English, William Goodhart, David Graham, Blanche Lucas and William Wells.
Annual General Meeting
The 19th Annual General Meeting of JUSTICE was held in the Old Hall, Lincoln's Inn on Tuesday, 29th June, 1976.
Sir John Foster presided and in presenting the Annual Report expressed his personal regret that because of the extreme positions taken up by both sides no progress had been made in the reform of the Criminal Law. He would willingly do away with the right of silence provided verbals were suppressed. A criminal trial should not be a game but an enquiry into the truth and there should be no artificial restrictions on the calling of new evidence on appeal.
In the general discussion which followed, Arnold Rosen called for more meetings and higher subscriptions. Sir John Foster expressed his admiration for the French Conseil d'Etat. Muir Hunter expressed gratification at the extent to which our representations had improved the Insolvency Bill. Alfred Finer praised the growth of duty solicitor schemes, and stressed the need to see that they worked fairly and efficiently. Charles Wegg-Prosser said that it was important that duty solicitors should interview prisoners in their cells before they were brought up and that the Law Society was concerned about denials of access to suspects.
In presenting the Annual Accounts, Michael Bryceson sounded an urgent note of alarm at the prospects facing the Society if its income could not be substantially increased. Despite the compensation received through our enforced removal from Crane Court, there was a deficit of around £1,000 for the year ending 31st March, 1976, and an even greater deficit was to be expected in the current year.
Lord Kilbrandon's Address
Lord Kilbrandon looked with perspective at the important subject of the police and the public. Due to historical reasons the English police
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