Zap! Ministry of Justice document that embarrassingly got basic law wrong disappears from web

It was there on Saturday: the Ministry of Justice’s guide to the courts which got the little matter of the innocent until proven guilty / burden of proof thing embarrassingly wrong.

And then what happened a few hours later? Zap. The link to the document stopped working as it disappeared from the web.

As The Observer reports:

Red-faced Ministry of Justice (MoJ) officials have been forced to deny claims that they had dismantled a centuries-old cornerstone of British law in advice that the ministry gave to people facing criminal trials…

In an embarrassing turn of events, the department hastily took down its new “easy read” guide, which explains to people with learning difficulties what they can expect if they are accused of a crime and say they are not guilty…

An MoJ spokesman said the guide had been removed while it was being reviewed. “Easy-read guides are an important way of providing information to people in simple and straightforward language,” the spokesman explained. “It is crucial to ensure these documents are precise and as helpful as possible.”