At its heart, journalism is about accountability. That means uncovering deceit or neglect in government, shining a light on dark corners of the business world and highlighting the unjust application of the law. Tristan Kirk, the Evening Standard’s courts correspondent, has done more than most to uphold these values.
Now Kirk has won the Paul Foot Award 2024, given for investigative or campaigning journalism, over his exposés into the failings of the Single Justice Procedure (SJP). Dubbed a “conveyor belt of justice”, SJP is a secretive court process which empowers magistrates to hand down convictions for minor crimes behind closed doors, away from the scrutiny that comes with open court proceedings.
