NOBODY WANTS TO KNOW

The topic of fines has been here previously, previously and previously.............It doesn`t go away because governments of all persuasions have no provision for a final deterrent against non payers.  Of course the usual claptrap about means courts and ability to pay are used as an argument as to why up to £2 billion in fines, costs, surcharges etc is unpaid.  The numbers and arguments here in a single court in Northern Ireland serve as a microcosm of the situation in Great Britain.  It is virtually impossible to find official current figures for the numbers jailed for non payment of fines etc. for offences committed in England & Wales.  Page 19 of this document is the nearest I can find.  The estimate is that about 100 fine defaulters are jailed annually. Perhaps that insignificant number is why that £2 billion is owed to the Treasury when one includes all manner of unpaid Fixed Penalty Notices.  When there is no active deterrent to wilful non payers the system is a joke.  Of course such opinions are anathema to those in authority.  Well known organisations are on the phone to all and sundry when news of a Council Tax or TV License non payer of a fine lawfully imposed refuses to pay and after perhaps a year of hearings is  sentenced to 7 days inside.  This is aggravated by the pressure from the same organisations and others to remove the ability of Magistrates` Courts to impose custodial sentences in any cases whatsoever. Nobody from individual magistrates to prison governors wants these people put away but what is an alternative?  Whilst fines are the most common sentence in our courts, mainly in the lower court system, without enforcement they have no meaning.  But as with most matters in the justice system the public doesn`t care and politicians don`t want to know.

COFFEE AND STATISTICS

All those involved or remotely concerned with the justice system in this country will be unsurprised that law `n order has not been a topic of those seeking to bribe us for our votes next Thursday.  When the NHS has been adopted as an article of faith and those offering alternatives to its current position as the national religion being described as heretics to expect intelligent comment on both defence and justice in this election is to expect disappointment.   But the statistics are still emanating from Petty France.  I doubt there will be much comment on this latest set of numbers concerning re-offending.  For the mathematically inclined try crunching them with your coffee and biscuits.

A GIFT FOR UKIP

To be a Justice of the Peace is or was to be a representative of the public, of the common man, so that alleged offenders can be judged by their peers.  Indeed when I was appointed having “common sense” was a requisite.  That was dropped a decade or more ago.  With the many changes to the manner of domestic legislation since 1945 and the establishment of the European Convention of Human Rights in 1950 as a direct result of the atrocities committed during World War 2 and the introduction of the Human Rights Act 1998 some matters where common sense might have prevailed have been overtaken by the minutiae of legal jargon being argued by very eloquent lawyers and  interpreted  by judges sometimes too fearful of straying beyond self erected boundaries.  I would posit that this case is a perfect example of how judicial decision making does indeed stray beyond the wit of the common man using his common sense. Of course there are those who would argue that such decisions require more than just common sense; that only those highly skilled in the subject are fit to adjudicate and nobody would argue that a high intellect is not a necessity for such activity but would eg a Nobel Prize winner in Astrophysics or a chess Grandmaster be any less able to reach a just conclusion?   Such decisions as that for this self afflicted Libyan alcoholic are perfect ammunition to those who would offer extreme right wing views to many of the problems currently before us.  Some such problems might indeed profit from such views but when a total political philosophy is grounded upon an imagined contempt that the “Establishment” has for the majority of the population there lies trouble ahead.

No doubt certain aspiring UKIP candidates in next week`s election will quote this case.  It will be hard not to agree with them.

IO SONO IN VACANZA

As I`m off to warmer climes tomorrow I hadn`t intended posting today but having been an arch critic of interpretation services at magistrates` courts I thought it appropriate to pass on the latest statistics from the MOJ on the efficiency or otherwise of said services.  So for those statistically minded all the evidence is here.

All being well I hope to return here in a couple of weeks with more observations excessive amounts of Chianti and lasagne permitting.

THOUGHTS AFTER RETIREMENT

It is generally accepted that magistrates` courts came into being in 1285, during the reign of Edward I, when ‘good and lawful men’ were commissioned to keep the King’s peace. The title Justice of the Peace (J.P.) first appeared in 1361, in the reign of Edward III. As the office was unpaid only those with independent wealth could be appointed.  Until the turn of this century applicants had to declare their political affiliation before their applications would be considered. Prior to 2003 there was a great deal of truly local control of individual magistrates` courts.

With major changes in society since 1997; reduction in crime, increase in out of court disposals, mass immigration, increases in legislation and government`s increasing desire to exercise control,  units of governance increased in size eg many smaller London boroughs were abolished and absorbed into larger entities with populations the size of cities such as Bristol.  Courts were no exception to this big is best philosophy.   With the formation of Her Majesty`s Courts and Tribunals Service in 2011 central government has overall control of the whole courts` process. 

On March 25th I   sat  for the last time as a magistrate.  I did not resign, I was not removed for misconduct; I have been retired because I will be about to reach the biblical standard and compulsory retirement age of three score years and ten.  As an individual who has freely given  one day weekly for each of these seventeen years it will most certainly leave a gap in my life and lifestyle which will not easily be replaced.  But as part of a cohort of baby boomers, currently 55% of my colleagues are over 60 years old, the lay magistracy  is losing its most experienced members many or most of whom are qualified to sit as chairmen in court.  Those in their fifth decade of life make up 28% of J.P.s. The youngest group; the under forties has been fairly constant over the last decade at under 4% of the total.  An organisation which for whatever reason loses or is projected to lose such a high percentage of its most senior members cannot be expected to have a long shelf life.  This brief summary is not about the representative nature of the magistracy.  My concern is that as appointees and the most junior members of the judiciary we are subject to the whim of government.  And that whim hints at the removal of lay magistrates from our courts system as we know it;  a  system of courts unique in the world where lay magistrates have powers of custodial sentencing.

The last fifteen years have seen a gradual erosion of the powers of magistrates` benches over their members and behind the scenes court processes.  Her Majesty`s Courts and Tribunal Service has arguably created powers for itself not envisaged by those who set these changes in motion.  Whilst the number of J.P.s has fallen by almost a third over this period of falling numbers of cases coming to court  the same period has seen the number of full time District Judges sitting alone  rising from below 100 to 139 assisted by 154 part time Deputy District Judges.  The numbers of District Judges (and D.D.J.s)  have increased as a direct result of government policies. It is reasonable to ask oneself why.  It cannot be purely on cost although if their having a qualified legal clerk for assistance were abolished the cost difference would be a close run thing allowing for J.P.s expenses.   It cannot be that increasing court time is required.  The last decade has seen the number of lay magistrates reduced from c30,000 to c 23,000. The only logical conclusion is that by having the lower courts under the control of salaried civil servants they become more amenable to central control.  Those more expert than I in the manipulation of statistics have suggested that converting the Deputies to full time D.J.s would enable a government to remove the lay Justice of the Peace from the criminal court altogether replacing him/her with a single arbiter of law, fact finding and sentencing  thus allowing  full -  on control of the total courts process by civil servants beholden to government for their stipend.   It is virtually beyond argument that this is indeed what happened after the riots of 2011.  I personally experienced pressure from senior officials to send where lawful a  related matter at that time to crown court as District Judges were instructed to do notwithstanding whether or not it had passed the required seriousness test.  My colleagues and I at the time declined such pressure. 

There is no doubt that in their quest to pursue the concept of restorative justice,  the proliferation of out of court disposals, the pressure to reduce custodial sentencing and the virtual balancing of costs between J.P.s and an arguably  more efficient and cost effective professional judiciary there are politicians all too willing to heed the voices of pressure groups to remove the lay magistracy from the courtrooms of England and Wales.   Recent legislative changes, many by the coalition, have seen the resignation of a small number of J.P.s........statistics are impossible to find.  Imposition of taxes unrelated to income termed “victim surcharge” on convicted offenders in addition to costs, fines, community requirements and custodial sentences were greeted with dismay by most of my colleagues.  Newly announced additional such taxation known as the Criminal Court Charge will almost certainly accelerate the philosophical distance between magistrates and government leading  inevitably to resignations especially from the most senior cohort of J.P.s.

I can now write in all honesty that against my previous expectations I am happy to have reached this milestone; the end of my judicial career. However I intend to continue with this blog as long as I think I have something useful to say and there are some who consider it is something useful to read.