Ban TV judge for making a mockery of law, blasts QC
He is a star of daytime TV and was best man at Benedict Cumberbatch’s wedding to sophie Hunter.
But now Rob Rinder, right, has been accused by a top lawyer and deputy High Court Judge of bringing the law into disrepute.
‘Barristers shouldn’t be reality stars — it denigrates the job and the law,’ says Bob Marshall-Andrews QC. ‘ i deprecate it and don’t understand how it’s allowed.’
On the hit iTV show Judge Rinder, the presenter (otherwise known as top criminal barrister Rob Rinder of 2 Hare Court) presides over a mocked-up court and decides on a series of civil matters.
He wears genuine barrister’s robes and his decisions under arbitration laws are legally binding. Any financial awards are paid for by the production company.
But Marshall-Andrews, 73, thinks such shows — which mix fact and fiction — confuse the public.
‘Years ago, i was doing some training with the California Bar Association. We mocked up a criminal trial to show the American lawyers how we cross- examined in an english court and we wrote to the Lord Chancellor Lord Hailsham to ask if we could wear wigs and he said No! That wasn’t even for a TV show and is how it should be.
‘ What does Rinder think he’s doing? it denigrates the job. You should be above these things.’
The ex- Labour MP, who was speaking at a junket in London legal district The Temple to launch his novel, Dump, also criticises Rinder for going on strictly. ‘You can’t take barristers seriously if they go on strictly and behave like this.
‘i know times have changed, but even if i was a younger man i wouldn’t have done something like this — it’s wrong. The job is sacrosanct.’
Meanwhile, Rinder, 39, is still reeling from the break-up of his 11- year relationship with seth Cumming — a former political adviser to George Osborne.