What a Judge

 

At common law a lawyer was not considered as essential for the defendant in a criminal trial because it was the judge’s job to insure that the defendant was afforded due process. Things have changed, of course, and now the sooner a person lawyers up the better.

Sometimes the old ways are the better ways. In the United Arab Emirates, Judge Maher Salama Al-Mahdi makes sure that the defendants who appear before him are in fact guilty. With his investigative powers he seeks out evidence of innocence. This he says, is the norm in Dubai.

When was the last time you heard of an American judge who sought to prove the innocence of a criminal defendant?