cjm 82: Violence of the British state

British state sanctioned violence is routine, for the most part unaccountable, and continues to wreak havoc on the lives of people in the UK and abroad, according to the authors who offer disturbing accounts of violence permitted under the watch of the British state.

Guest editor for this issue, David Whyte, accuses the British government of hiding behind claims of 'necessity' when defending involvement in a range of violent acts and, for some, creating a Kafkaesque world of trial without any possibility of justice.

In the topical section, David Scott considers the continued marginalisation of prisoners' rights and Julian Roberts reports on the new Sentencing Council.