HAPPY NEW YEAR when it comes

Peace and goodwill to all men might now be considered a hackneyed way to convey the meaning of Christmas but a Happy New Year to all is beyond misunderstanding. This retired magistrate hopes to be up and running again by the end of next week after having given thanks once more to the inventors of the amber liquid. 

THE TOAST IS THE AMBER LIQUID

If, dear reader, you`re a newcomer to this blog I hope you might return from time to time.  If you`re familiar with this site and can tolerate my sometimes unpopular themes I thank you for your persistence.  But to all who might peruse my meanderings here and @bloggingJP I wish you a very Merry Christmas and a New Year free of Brexit headlines. Since the latter is unlikely to be more than wishful thinking enjoy the amber liquid on its most appropriate time for being in the glass and not the bottle. 

THE MEANING OF THIS

I have just a brief post today.  The advertisement below from today`s edition of "Police "Professional"is for an Inspector at the MET.  If you were a white person interested in this job what would be your feelings on reading this last paragraph?

We view diversity as fundamental to our success. To tackle today’s complex policing challenges, we need a diverse workforce made up from all communities. Applications from across the community are therefore essential.[my underline]

THE CONTINUING SAGA OF RICHARD PAGE EX J.P.

My most recent post on this story was earlier this year on 15th February. For those unfamiliar with the history that post has a link to my first comments on the case a year earlier. It is a carbuncle on the face of this country`s supposed leadership in all matters legal that after almost three years Mr Page is still ascending the labyrinthine steps to a conclusion. It is a matter of some concern that at a time when HMCTS is supposedly spending a billion pounds on digitalisation of the courts` process that fundamental matters affecting our very democracy are proceeding at a snail`s pace.  It is in cases of this nature that underlying freedoms are won or lost. My opinion is that as with many supposed "changes" in legal matters the basic freedoms we have assumed as our right under the law are being salami sliced from us. The fate of Richard Page should be a concern for us all. 

HEAVEN HELP US

I have a fear of becoming boring and repetitive but when a report of yet another multiple offending scumbag paedophile being given custody suspended I hold my head in my hands. If judges cannot show the abhorrence felt by the public in their sentencing decisions they will lose public support as is happening within our political system. When politics and the law are held in contempt the day of the populist draws ever closer. Heaven help us. 

MAGISTRATES DON`T NEED COMMON SENSE

There are times when I read of sentencing practices at magistrates courts that I despair.  There is no doubt whatsoever that the law is being brought into contempt, if not literally but certainly metaphorically.  There are those who would abolish custodial sentences of less than six months.  Two responses come to mind; increase minimum sentences to six months which has no possibility of enactment or admit that the idea of public protection does  not have a place in sentencing guidelines.  Pressure upon pressure has been placed upon the courts to prevent offenders being sent to custody. There are low level recidivists who are beyond redemption under current thinking.  I have long suggested that workhouses [for various posts put workhouse in search box]  designed for this century where under lock and key inmates can be made to undergo cold turkey regimes to rid them of their drug and/or alcohol habit which drive more than 70% of crime much of which the establishment describes as low level. Such criminality affects ordinary people much more than it touches on the lives of those who make the rules.  The example of this scumbag serves to illustrate all too clearly how inadequate are some courts.  To suspend his sentence flies in the face of common sense.  Ooooops!  I forgot;  common sense is not a requirement for magistrates in this era of sensitivity and safe space political agitation. . 

JUDGING THE JUDGES (AND J.P.s)

In the last three weeks four magistrates have been disciplined by the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office.   As is always the pattern very few details are published. The whole disciplinary process is cloaked in secrecy.  This involves proceedings more suited to the 1950s than 2018.  Both from the point of the view of the public and the good name of those sanctioned there at least should be the opportunity for the latter to explain their position to a wider audience if so desired. The Law Society Gazette has a similar take on this subject in its article published at the weekend.   

LIFE SHOULD BE LIFE: END OF

When I was twelve years old I wrote an essay the subject of which was "Why I want capital punishment abolished".  Eight years later when abolition took place I was aware that all the proponents of that unique change (noting the increasing restrictions on its application) in a centuries old policy were very ready to offer their assurances that new sentencing powers would ensure that the public would be every bit as protected as pre abolition.  That was a fatuous guarantee.  However I, in harmony with a majority of the population, was prepared to be supportive on the basis of time will tell.  Well; time has told.  What ever statistics are used and/or manipulated homicides have increased considerably  in the last half century. There are occasions when a significant minority of people has a certain repugnance at the conclusions of the Parole Board.  The furore surrounding the black cab rapist who was scheduled for release a few months ago  persuaded the Parole Board to have a re think. It seems, however, that the great and the good on that Quango have once again given two fingers to public opinion.  The release has been authorised of triple child killer David McGreavy after his 45 years incarceration.  Their reasoning is that he is no longer a threat to the public. This indeed might be the case but it does not justify IMHO his release. Restricted prison accommodation or cost cannot be used as an excuse in this matter. Consideration for him in any way similarly must be ignored. His crime was of the most heinous nature.  There have been few of equal barbarity.  His punishment was life imprisonment.  If this lowest form of humanity cannot serve out his remaining days under lock and key we, the great British public, will find that our respect for the justice system will be accelerated further towards terminal decline. 

JUSTICE: THE COMING DISASTER

I`m not saying the Lord Chief Justice was slow to get off the mark and I`m not saying that I have crystal balls but sometimes I do wonder at the rate at which pennies seem to drop when justice  in all its facets indicates a sense of the direction in which it is travelling or being forced to travel by the executive.  Every year it seems the Sentencing Guidelines have become more prescriptive.  The aforementioned LCJ spoke recently on the emergence of AI in the courts.  He did not specify the Sentencing Guidelines but alluded to other aspects of what we call the justice system that could be involved.  Having retired just prior to the introduction of the digitilisation programme my opinions are based on what I read and hear; certainly a poor substitute for experience. On 7th October 2015 I concluded my post that day as follows:- "There are those who fail to see this changing face of justice and there are those who see it but don`t recognise it for what it really portends but the most disheartening factor of all is that there are many on and off the bench who do realise what the future holds but remain silent for reasons not always honourable  IMHO of course." 

Since then there have been many changes. The Single Justice Procedure has, I believe, come in for its fair share of criticism, many more magistrates courts have been closed, national and regional magistrates have been appointed by the executive presumably on the basis that their support can be shown as an indication of general support of the magistrates on the Clapham Omnibus, video courts are being utilised as if personalities have no importance and of course legal aid is virtually non existent for defendants and a financial  loss for ever increasing numbers of lawyers. On 26th October 2016 the final paragraph of that day`s post was:- "It is only a matter of a generation before such artificial intelligences become even more a part of our daily life.  Who is to say that those advances will not include interaction with current legal processes."  

Only those on the "inside" can hope to have the slightest influence on the catastrophe for individual freedom and justice which is coming our way. It seems that whilst they are in receipt of the Queen`s shilling their mouths remain closed. That, unfortunately, is the way it has always been. But perhaps there are still some who can voice their opinion without fear or favour to avert the coming disaster.