“The function of the defence counsel in a criminal trial is linked to this: the necessary awareness of the plurality of points of view about values, about rules, about facts. It consists, bringing it back to its theoretical nature, in systematically questioning absolute or pre-established truths in order to solicit judgements that are correct and that the largest number of people can agree on. In this perspective let us recall some basic principles of good judgement, taking our inspiration from Aristotle.121

“We mustn’t decide in haste: when decisions are made that involve important interests, we have to think slowly.

“We need to verify the information – in other words, take nothing for granted. Taking for granted things that can’t be taken for granted produces flawed – that is, incorrect – arguments, because they’re based on false premises.

“When we don’t have sufficient instruments to evaluate a specific situation we need to consult independent experts.

“We need to observe the situation, examining the points of view of all the parties involved. If we say somebody is right, we also have to say that somebody else is wrong. We therefore need to be conscious of the fact that even the best judgement will be perceived in good faith by somebody as unjust.

“We need to consider the possible outcomes of a judgement, carefully weighing the pros and the cons. That is the case above all with protective custody, which basically involves a prognostic judgement. Article 274 clause c of the code of practice authorizes the limitation of personal freedom on the basis of a prognosis, a judgement of a predictive kind. A suspect is placed under arrest for a serious crime when it’s predicted that, if they’re let free, they will commit further serious crimes. Needless to say, this is a necessary rule, and helps to avoid dangerous individuals remaining at liberty while criminal proceedings are still under way.

“But in this case, as in others, we have to remember that man is an animal that’s not very good at making predictions.

“In the second decade of the last century, a man named Charlie Chaplin asserted that the public weren’t interested in seeing figures moving on a screen, only flesh-and-blood human beings on a stage. In 1932 Albert Einstein declared that it would never be possible to produce atomic energy. In 1943 the head of IBM, Thomas Watson, maintained that in 122the future there would be at most five people in the world interested in buying a computer. In 1995 Robert Metcalfe, the inventor of Ethernet, pontificated that the Internet would soon become a supernova and would collapse by 1996. In 2007 Steve Ballmer, the former CEO of Microsoft, said there was no possibility that the iPhone would capture a significant share of the market.