It is common practice that a motoring court will
comprise many dozen cases. The last such
sitting was no exception. We had over
sixty defendants listed with about two dozen having multiple charges. There were twenty two appearances one of whom
was of that well known tribe; the Freemen of England. In the usual manner of those people he tried
to overwhelm the court by his outspoken opinions of who and what were fit to hear his case. With a L/A who takes no nonsense and a
chairman not known for his reticence he was persuaded to plead to “no insurance”
being advised it was a strict liability
offence. His “not guilty” resulted in a
trial date being set and his response to bench advice that the case would still proceed
if he didn`t turn up was greeted with ,”Don`t you worry your worship I`ll be
there with all my evidence”, whereupon he showed us all a thick pile of papers
in a transparent envelope. I`m sure my
colleagues in November will be up to the task of providing justice although
from my past experience it will require patience, tact and a firmly drawn red line which, if breached, unlike that before
the esteemed chieftain Mr B O`Bama last year should
provoke sanctions. We had two totter defendants,
one of whom was represented, arguing
exceptional hardship. That particular gentleman might have felt his money was
not well spent when his argument was rejected. We
accepted the other`s plea and banned him for 14 days. Unusually there were two cases of permission to drive as a defence against no
insurance. Both were rejected. Two totters were disqualified for the
mandatory six months and five other non appearances were summonsed to appear to
argue why they also should not be disqualified as totters. A speeder caught doing 104MPH in a 70 zone
whilst driving his Aston Martin was quite relaxed when his fine and costs of
over £1,000 plus four weeks disqualification were announced. Compared to the Swiss courts he got off lightly. Presumably he could afford to
employ a driver for the prescribed period.
A German gentleman earning over
£2,000 per week after tax was most surprised that even with a guilty
plea he was fined an amount commensurate with his income for no insurance.
All in all just a normal sitting in the motoring
court.
Here in our LJA we no longer deal with first-listed traffic offences in the adult court, but they go to a centralised traffic court in Oxford for the whole of Thames Valley. We only get them back if it is someone local for trial or facing disqualification, it being unreasonable to make witnesses or someone about to be put off the road to be faced with a 100-mile round trip on patchy public transport.
ReplyDeleteRe Freemen of the Land, we had one in some months ago arguing that he was a peer of the realm (through lineage from an ancestor appointed by Napoleon's right-hand man Marshal Ney, no less) and produced letters patent and documents 'proving' that peers did not have to pay state taxes. Rather than waste time arguing with him over something about which the Bench or Legal Adviser knew nothing, we passed it on to our friendly resident DJ. Never did hear the outcome...
Seems to me the courts are running scared of Freemen and Sovereigns. With the lack of Legal Aid funding available what did you expect? People have to defend themselves and are willing to learn to do it. Perhaps its about time our 'noble' Magistrates started to enquire for themselves instead of relying on on LA's who are (lets be honest here) bought and paid for by the 'Crown'. The ECHR states we are all entitled to a "Fair and impartial hearing". How are British Courts 'fair' never mind 'impartial,' when you've all sworn an oath to the Crown and the Crown is prosecuting. Doesn't sound fair to me!
ReplyDeleteYou should not feel intimidated and the most experienced professionals will be aware of this
ReplyDeleteand will do what they can to put you at ease, allowing you
to ask questions to find out more. If you are involved in an accident it can be a
difficult experience. Many people wrongly assume that there is no chance of a
successful appeal, but the statistics say otherwise.
Here is my webpage: Online Amber Business News