On the End of a Fairy Tale

Once upon a time there was a lovely and inspiring court decision.

This decision was by the High Court called Corner House. In this rousing judgment Lord Justice Moses denounced as illegal the decision by the Serious Fraud Office to drop a prosecution following threats by Saudi Arabia.

But the big and nasty House of Lords blew this case down. They did so on a technical point which, I reluctantly concede, was correct. It was a decison legally open to the SFO to make, even though it was a decision that just should not have been made.

As the great historians Sellar and Yeatman said in another context, the choice is sometimes between being Wrong and Wromantic or Right but Repulsive.