 Four months after his daughter is killed in a traffic accident, Maurice Hart legally purchases a shotgun and kills the driver who had been acquitted of any criminal responsibility. The defendant refuses to testify in his defense but Judge Deed does his best to ensure a balanced presentation of the evidence. The Lord Chancellor s Department has grown tired of Deed s aggressive behavior and develop a plan to force his resignation. Judge Deed s daughter, Charlie, starts university and falls in with activists and needs both her father s and her grandfather s assistance to get her friend off.