Balance shifting

the powerful intervention (Letters, 25 January) of the president of the Association of Police Superintendents in the ongoing debate on the proposed removal of the requirement for corroboration in criminal proceedings worries me.

Of course the views of all the parties involved in the criminal justice system are important and should be taken into consideration, and that includes the police. But Lord McCluskey is a respected and highly experienced legal mind, and he is very far from being alone in holding the concerns he has expressed.

Scarcely a day goes past without some English police spokesperson or another appearing on a television news programme to make a partisan statement on the outcome of a criminal court case. The Scottish police seem to have made a better job of retaining the respect and trust of the public, but on this present issue, where after all they can appear to have a very obvious axe to grind, they have made their particular views very clear and should leave the matter there.

The concept of delicately balanced scales is an important one in any justice system and altering that balance because one of the parties in the system has developed a loud voice is not justice.

Irvine Inglis

Reston

Berwickshire