In an update to his earlier book, Ian Mitchell, warns that our country is on the road to becoming an authoritarian state. The Justice Factory: Can the Rule of Law Survive in 21st Century Scotland?, was originally published in 2014, but was republished last month and now includes forewords by Lord Hope of Craighead, the former deputy president of the Supreme Court, and constitutional law expert, Alan Page.
The book is not currently available via Bookshop.org (our preferred vendor) but it is available on Amazon Kindle, and in paperback.
The principles of due process and the separation of powers are under threat. Arguably, this is a war for the future of liberal democracy. Certainly, it is poisoning the body politic in Britain and America today. This new book looks at the situation in close focus in one jurisdiction, Scotland, though the lessons are universal.
— Part I (Judges) describes from actual interviews the sort of people who have served as judges in Scotland since the turn of this century. What sort of people are the upholders of our law?
— Part II (politicians) describes threats to the rule of law which are emerging from the political world. It is uncertain whether the judiciary will be allowed to retain its institutional independence. What price then, the rule of law?