A Verdict Against the Police No one welcomes judgements against
the police, for no one desires the police to be in the wrong. But it is of the first importance that when they are wrong judge- . ment should be unhesitatingly given against them, for the Courts are the guardians of the liberty of the subject: From that point of view, the verdict given by Mr. Justice Horridge on Tuesday in the case brought against Lord Trenchard, as Commissioner of Police, by officials of the National Unemployed Workers' Movement, is reassuring. Neither the movement, nor its officials, as such, _invite much sympathy, but the latter, like all citizens, are entitled to justice, and. it is pretty clearly a violation of justice, as Tuesday's verdict established, for, the police to impound documents indiscriminately without a warrant and retain some of them even after a prosecution in which they_ figured, or might have figured, is over. But the judgement given in this point was complicated, Sir Thomas Horridge finding, that while the seizure generally was improper, the impounding of some of the documents could be excused " in the public interest," since they subsequently formed evidence in a prosecution. This is rather disturbing doctrine, for almost anything could be justified " in the public interest." If that _is good law there is matter' in it for flirthet discussion. ,
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