IF YOU’RE one of those people who think things have been pretty bad in the UK over the last couple of weeks, then you should try travelling round the world with me.

We may ‘live in exciting times’, but we should be proud of our democracy and law and order and Parliament, which are the envy of most of the rest of the world.

Some of our laws go back to before the Magna Carta and, of course, the High Sheriff was a fundamental governor of all things in the area. He appointed judges, served writs in their name and dealt with the prisons and their prisoners.

Nowadays, the High Sheriff may only politely request if he can sit with a judge. Luckily for me, I have sat with nine different judges throughout Wiltshire.

As I have never been in court for any other reason than as a visitor, I found the whole process enlightening, listening to various cases such as affray, drug dealing and a couple of sex cases, which I am told are on the increase.

All of the judges have been extremely polite, entertaining, open minded, very intelligent and above all street-wise.

If you read the press you would think our judges are aloof and not worldly-wise.

Not a bit of it – the fact is, as one of them told me, they see every walk of life and have heard all the excuses at least 20 times.

From my perspective, it seems that once the Crown Prosecution Service has sent the case to court then, in the cases I saw, a jury is sworn in.

I could write a book on this procedure but faith in our legal system still trusts 12 ‘ordinary’ men and women to trial their peer group.

The judge is simply the referee between prosecution and defence. The jury listens intently and the judge then deals with points of law and the sentencing within certain guidelines.

They are always wary of the appeal process if the sentence is perceived too severe or too lenient.

At all times the judges were extremely polite to the ‘accused’ with no preconceptions and with a view of presumed innocent until proven guilty.

All were extremely entertaining but, as soon as the robes and wigs went on, it was serious business. They represent Her Majesty the Queen and that is extremely serious.

We have probably all seen snippets of court procedures on TV but the coroners’ court was a new experience.

The coroners’ court is based in Salisbury. All births are recorded and that is exactly the same with deaths.

The coroners deal with unexplained or suspicious deaths. I sat on two very different cases and was astounded at the detail that is trawled through before a decision is made.

Every witness statement and expert witness testifying is taken into account. The proceedings are all carried out with the utmost dignity and professionalism.

Our country may have many faults, but from the cradle to the grave, our legal system is justly the envy of the world.