'The limits to equality — access to justice and scandal' with Nazir Afzal OBE

Nazir Afzal, Chancellor of the University and former Chief Crown Prosecutor for north-west England, discusses inequalities in access to justice and a vision for fairer treatment across the legal service.

During his legal career, Afzal prosecuted some of the highest profile criminal cases in the UK. Here he talks about limits to equality and the many issues that exist within our current legal system. Cutting across ethnicity, gender, economic status, age and health, he explores what is being done – and what more should be done – to combat these challenges.

The event also included a panel discussion, chaired by Claire McGourlay, Professor of Legal Education at Manchester and a National and Principal Fellow of the HEA. Against the backdrop of recent injustices both in the UK and globally, including the ongoing Post Office scandal, the panel considered disparities in access to justice and how we might chart a path towards fairer treatment within the legal sphere.

She was joined by Tom Hedges, sub-postmaster at Hogsthorpe Post Office near Skegness from 1994 until he was unjustly sacked in 2010, aged 57, after being wrongfully accused of false accounting; barrister and advocate Thalia Maragh; and Suzanne Gower, PhD researcher, lecturer in Law and former Managing Director of legal charity APPEAL.

This lecture was recorded on Friday, 7 June 2024 at the Martin Harris Centre as part of Universally Manchester Festival. It is the second live instalment of the Talk 200 lecture and podcast series.

Find out more about:

Talk 200 and the University’s wider bicentenary celebrations: https://www.manchester.ac.uk/200

The University’s research in global inequalities: https://www.manchester.ac.uk/research...

The University of Manchester Justice Hub: https://www.socialsciences.manchester...

Manchester Innocence Project: https://www.socialsciences.manchester...

The Innocence Podcast series: https://www.innocence.fm/about

Prosecuting Rap research: https://sites.manchester.ac.uk/prosec...

Racial Bias and the Bench report: https://documents.manchester.ac.uk/di...

Policy@Manchester article on the Westminster Commission on Miscarriages of Justice report: https://blog.policy.manchester.ac.uk/...

Timestamps:
00:00 – Introductions
6:11 – Lecture
24:11 – Panel discussion
01:12:34 – Q&A
01:33:21 – Closing speech
01:34:34 – Outro