BBC Radio 4 FM

Original version

BBC Radio 4 LW

The Law Show

Documentaries

Factual: Crime & Justice

Factual: Politics

Conversation about the laws making headlines, and the laws that shape everyday life.

The Law Show is your guide to the law and the legal decisions that have a bearing on everyone in the UK.

Weekly conversation that will give you an in-depth understanding of the law stories making news and the legal decisions that could have a bearing on everyone in the UK. Whether it's unpicking a landmark legal ruling, explaining how laws are made or seeking clarity for you on a legal issue, The Law Show will be your guide.

Law in Action

The Law Show: Open Prisons

Open Prisons

17/06/2014

BBC Radio 4 - The Law Show, Open Prisons

Following a spate of high profile escapes, does the open prison system need reforming?

Presented by Joshua Rozenberg. Following a spate of high profile escapes, does the open prison system need reforming?

Following a spate of high profile escapes, Law in Action asks does the open prison system need reforming?

This week, Joshua Rozenberg visits Kirkham Prison - an open prison in Lancashire - to find out what open prisons are really like. In the studio, Joshua speaks to Conservative MP Philip Davies - who has been highly critical of the system - and journalist Noel 'Razor' Smith, who was given a 26-year sentence for bank robbery.

It's 50 years since Nelson Mandela and seven other defendants were sentenced to life imprisonment in the Rivonia trial. Joshua Rozenberg meets George Bizos, an advocate working on the defence team at the time, to reflect on Mr Mandela's life as a lawyer.

Doctors now have a legal duty to consult with and inform patients if they want to place a Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) order on medical notes, the Court of Appeal in England has ruled. Law in Action speaks to lawyer who represented the family which brought the case.

CONTRIBUTORS

Philip Davies, Conservative MP for Shipley

Noel Smith, journalist

George Bizos, defence lawyer for Nelson Mandela

Merry Varney, Leigh Day solicitors

Producer: Keith Moore
Series Producer: Richard Fenton Smith.

BBC Radio 4

Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

Accessibility links

Programme Index

The Law Show

Open Prisons

Genres

Brand

BBC Radio 4 LW

About BBC Radio 4