Milly Dowler : European investigative methods might have protected the family better?

The Milly Dowler case has long held significant public interest and now seems to have sent shock waves through the the English legal system. Commentators have said that the English legal system is adversarial, so such “oppression” in high-profile cases is to be expected. There is an alternative to be found, I would suggest, in the European system where a juge d’instruction, or examining judge, seeks to find out exactly what happened before the actual trial takes place. That judge operates, with legal counsel present, behind closed doors. This is the inquisitorial system. It tends, I suggest, to get to the heart of the matter rather swiftly and may avoid the heart-rending court appearances to which the Dowler family has reportedly been subject. Of course, the possible relatively swift administration of establishing relevant facts on a judicial (not police) basis offered by the Examining Judge might bring about a much shorter court time for cases; I rather feel that English & Welsh barristers might have a strong opinion about that ….