Twitteretter

Jeanne Pouchain is a French woman declared dead by a Lyon court, despite being alive. Mrs. Pouchain’s unfortunate legal demise happened in 2017, the result of a judicial error. This, I guess, can happen. We all make mistakes. What is extraordinary in her case is that the courts, having made the mistake, are refusing to rectify it. They are not prepared to admit they could make such a big mistake. They are, like many people do nowadays, doubling down. Caught on a lie? No matter, double down, pile lie on top of lie, come out at the other end, UK Prime Minister, or US President. You brought about climate change by over contaminating? No matter, pretend climate change doesn’t exist, contaminate further. Come out at the other end a superpower in a dwindling World. Jeanne finds herself tied in a Gordian knot with Kafkian overtones. If you are dead, you are not even entitled to present proof that you are alive, as you need to be alive to do so. I will follow her case with utmost curiosity Len...

I’ve been listening to Trump in the aftermath of the US Presidential Election, whilst ballot counts in battleground states proceed at glacial pace. This is a dangerous exercise one needs to be well prepared psychologically for, but it is important. I am struck by his latest complaint, that his strategy to challenge ballot counts in the courts is failing not because of a lack of evidence or basis, which he does not see as the weakness of his position, but because his legal team is not good enough. This assessment is borne from his experience of the US legal system, and let’s face it, few outside the legal profession have more than him. Trump is, inadvertently, highlighting and denouncing a worrying evolution of US justice: The fact that those with the better legal team, i.e., those better resourced, have an expectation of victory, regardless of their claims’ merit. Let us remember one of the maxims at the centre of democracy, ‘All citizens are equal in the eyes of the law’, and reflect...