Criminal justice makes no sense without concept of free will

"The requirement for punishment, however, is not a demand of fairness, but of social expediency. There is no such thing as perfect justice in a modern society, where the behaviour of millions has to be regulated by one set of rules. Justice is rather a pragmatic matter, which requires us to treat people as free agents, even if we believe they are no such thing."

Column in today's Herald (which suffers from a somewhat misleading headline...)