Silvio Berlusconi, the former Prime Minister of Italy, has, after numerous trials for countless crimes, finally been convicted. This wealthy politicians and businessman has protested about being the victim of a politicised judiciary. Such an accusation raises an important question: is the judiciary under capitalism “political”? Ben Gliniecki looks at the role of judges and the law in capitalist society.

In 1949, Ted Grant, founder of the Militant Tendency and Socialist Appeal, wrote a polemical response to Tony Cliff on the class nature of the Soviet Union, arguing against Cliff’s theory of “State Capitalism”. Ted’s response provides an in-depth Marxist analysis on a range of questions, from the transition from capitalism to socialism, to the key issues of the state and the nature of Stalinism.

Amidst the onslaught of privatisations, cuts, pay freezes and redundancies emerging from the capitalist crisis, Britain’s environment-conscious Green Party are becoming increasingly torn by political polarisation. Forced to carry out the same agenda of public sector cuts being advocated by the Con-Dem coalition in the interests of capital, the Green Party in Brighton & Hove City Council is beginning to experience inevitable contradictions and conflict regarding its political agenda.