Many people will find it hard to believe that within key aspects of the Law of England and Wales there lie significant defects — such is the extent to which our laws and system of justice have been routinely described as ‘The best in the world’. This new analysis by reform group Modernising Justice demonstrates just how fragile this view is in relation to one of the most serious of crimes. Murder remains a common law offence based on an ancient definition and with an approach to punishment still overshadowed by politico-judicial compromises at the time of the abolition of the death penalty. The authors demonstrate just why change is needed in order to create a modern and just law of murder. Their arguments and proposals are set out concisely in this pamphlet which also reproduces their ongoing correspondence with successive Ministers of Justice.