Humanity in the frame

When I was asked recently to attend a seminar in Warwick University I agreed readily. I knew the venue, the Scarman Conference Centre, having been there once before. I recalled a picture I had seen on my first visit. It had made an impression on me then that has stayed with me ever since. I hoped that there would be space in the day to see it again. I was pleased to see that it was still there, displayed in the main hospitality area.

It is a study for a final portrait of Lord Scarman painted by the artist Tom Phillips.

Lord Scarman died in 2004 at the age of 93. He is remembered for presiding over the enquiry into the Brixton Riots of 1981 but I recall his earlier visit to Belfast in 1969 when he had conducted an enquiry into an aspect of our own “Troubles”.

The study for the portrait – I have not yet seen the final - conveys to me a sense of: Sharpness. Flint. Alertness. Decision.

Around the perimeter framing the image is a set of words, quoted from Thomas Paine’s On the Rights of Man. I think these must have been a motto for Scarman and they certainly speak to today when some legal decisions are openly criticised as out of touch, mistaken or misunderstood. Paine wrote, “I had rather record a thousand errors inspired by humanity than one dictated by a justice too severe”.

I like that humanity motive.

I like the idea of taking the time to get things right. The artist completed a study for his final portrait - thinking about it? Getting it right?

I like considered, reflective and wise judgements and get worried when I hear or read opinion formers calling for retribution in response to some high profile crime.

Cool heads are needed, not knee-jerk reactions that could lead to a justice too severe.