By any modern measure, criminal justice is expensive. Court buildings crumble, legal aid budgets shrink, and politicians warn that “we can’t try every case before a jury” if we want to tackle backlogs. At the same time, governments sign off on defence programmes worth billions, deploy troops abroad, and expand security services with little of the same public hand-wringing about cost.
The contrast poses a blunt question: if the state can afford, in our name, to take life or project lethal force overseas, how can it plead poverty when asked to fund the slow, careful business of public justice at home?
