Lord Burnett of Maldon has recently stepped down as Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales and head of the judiciary, after six years in post (2017-2023). He had carved out a career acting in public inquiries, which included the 1987 King’s Cross fire, the convictions of the Guildford Four and Maguire Seven, the 1997 Southall and 1999 Ladbroke Grove rail crashes, and the inquest into the deaths of Diana, Princess of Wales, and Dodi Fayed. 

In this episode, Lord Burnett speaks about the impact of funding cuts to the criminal justice system and expresses concerns about the “ramping up” of sentence lengths, urging more use of community sentences for young offenders.

The interview is conducted by Frances Gibb, journalist and former legal editor of The Times, for a landmark podcast series, The Judges: Power, Politics and the People, hosted by The University of Law. The series features the most senior former judges in England and Wales of the last three decades – those who have reached the apex of the justice system. It asks: who are the men and occasionally women who have reached the pivotal positions at the top of the judiciary? What do they feel about their time in office - their key decisions and dealing with ministers?