''Hasten, Justice!"

A hired champion who defends his client right or wrong--such is the usual concept of a lawyer. Far different was the concept set up in Rome last week by Signor Alfredo Rocco, reverberant-voiced Minister of Justice, drafter of the new Italian Penal Code (TIME, Oct. 28).

"In the eyes of Fascismo," boomed Signor Rocco with an eagle-like fixation of his own terrifying optics, "In the eyes of Fascismo an attorney, even though retained under fee by a client, still owes his first duty to the State! He must hasten Justice and make it sure, even against the wishes or the interests of his client. He must control the exposition of facts related to him by the client and gather the elements of proof into an honored sequence, so that when the trial begins it can move speedily to a decision. There must be no emotional pleading, no such disgrace to Justice as what the American's call 'sob stuff.' "

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