The maintenance of local justice

Lord Justice Thomas was invited to give this lecture in memory of Sir Elwyn Jones MP. He covered a contemporary subject which needed to be understood in its historic context: local justice and the challenges faced in seeking to maintain it.

"...what is meant by local justice and how to deal with the acute financial problems that arise in providing it in the light of current Treasury policy which they succeeded in imposing after dogged persistence for over 100 years"

He thought there were three matters that have to be considered:

1. the systematic organisation of local courts
2. courts that can provide justice locally, and
3. the finance to provide a system of local justice