The Kingdom of England can arguably be stated as having been founded in the last century of the first millennium perhaps a century after the founding of the northern part of the British Isles known as Scotland. The 13th century saw the incorporation of Wales into the Kingdom of England. The Kingdom of Ireland was brought under English control between 1541 and 1691. A sixteenth century royal marriage led to the Union of the Crowns in 1603 and the Kingdom of Great Britain was created in 1707 leading to the formation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in 1801. The establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922 led to the current designation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in 1927. The underlying political sentiments of those involved particularly for the last 200 years have been that there is much more that unites us than divides us. That is until the latter part of the last century. Whether by benign neglect or the emergence of an anti colonialism mind set in Scotland and Ireland separatism as a target began to take hold in some philosophical/historical minds and actions within both nations. The modern tragedy of Irish nationalism is still with us and the Scots seem to be plunging deeper and deeper into a death wish of economic turbulence and possible collapse. So what has this to do with a blog written by a retired magistrate with an interest in justice and the law? In the last few weeks the Magistrates Association has been following a singularly IMHO divisive line of its thinking as indicated by its Tweets.
·
It’s National
Coming Out Day! Our LGBT+ Diversity and Inclusion Network provides a safe space
for LGBT+ magistrates to discuss any issues which may affect them in court, as
well champion equality and respect within the justice system
·
#BlackHistoryMonth
recommended reading:
Influential Black Britons illustrated book (published by UK Parliament). This
resource lists individuals who have impacted UK laws and equal rights. Olaudah
Equiano, Mary Prince, Claudia Jones, Lord Learie Constantine, Bernie Grant…
(2/20)
It’s National Coming Out Day! Our LGBT+ Diversity
and Inclusion Network provides a safe space for LGBT+ magistrates to discuss
any issues which may affect them in court, as well champion equality and
respect within the justice system. Find out more at - https://magistrates-association.org.uk/What-We-Do/MA-
·
Over on the
Instagram, Dan, our trustee and deputy chair of our
LGBT+ Special Interest Group, talks about the importance of having a diverse
magistracy and some of the transferable skills magistrates gain that can be so
valuable to employers.
·
Knife crime is a serious problem but there is no
robust evidence that stop and search is the answer, while it could further
damage the trust and confidence that Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic
communities have in the justice system.
·
The MA’s disproportionality presentation provides
information about the disproportionate over-representation of Black, Asian and
Minority Ethnic people in the youth justice system, and what magistrates can do
to address this in and out of the courtroom.
·
It is encouraging that 18% of new magistrates are
under 40, though there is still work to be done to attract more volunteers from
Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds.
·
‘Must-Listen-To’ Claxon:
Hear MA board member & chair of our Young Magistrates Group,
, talk on
#FourThought about what it’s like to be a
young magistrate, and why having more will improve justice. Luke you were
excellent
·
Modelling for raising the retirement age to 75
projected that there will be 0.8% fewer BAME magistrates in any given year than
at present. The MA has called for this impact on diversity to be mitigated by
recruitment specifically targeting under-represented groups.
·
'There is certainly no such thing as your
stereotypical magistrate'.
Some retweets..
Magistrates Association Retweeted
·
Joining colleagues from across the UK for the
inaugural meeting of the Black, Asian and Ethnic
Minority Special Interest Group. Speakers included the MA Chair
and new CEO @TomFranklinUK
Dan, MA trustee and deputy chair of our LGBT+
Special Interest Group, speaks to
as part of #PrideMonth
What those tweets indicate to me is that the Magistrates Association following the many examples of woke inspired separatism is functioning in the mistaken belief that representation of all manor of variations in the make up of society provides a better quality of justice for all those who come to court. In simple terms the so called life truths of a bench are more likely to provide outcomes which suit the individual`s circumstances than the intellectual challenge of weighing up evidence so that the facts of a case are teased from all that the court must consider in coming to its conclusion. The practices of the M.A. in having sub committees for some of the very varied groupings in our society is inimitable to the cohesion which binds together those very same groupings. Undue emphasis on "diversity" risks a mockery of the judicial oath; “I, ______ , do swear by Almighty God that I will well and truly serve our Sovereign Lady Queen Elizabeth the Second in the office of ______ ,
and I will do I will do right to all manner of people after the laws and usages of this Realm, without fear or favour , affection or ill-will." [my bold]. There will be those who will retort that it takes eg a "life truth" of living as an impoverished or racially abused member of a minority group to understand and appreciate circumstances of any offender`s particular actions but from my experience much thinking along those lines is in direct contradiction of the last eight words of the oath above. The continued emphasis on recruitment to supposedly represent society does no favour for selecting the best people to be sitting in judgement on their fellow citizens. For example in Bradford where the ethnic composition is that the largest religious group is Christian (45.9% of the population) and nearly one quarter of the population (24.7%) is Muslim is that to be the target by the advisory committee charged with appointment of magistrates? 20.7% of Bradford citizens self declare that they do not follow a religion. Are they too to be represented on the Bench in that proportion?
When I was appointed in 1997 a question on the application form was for the applicant to state which political party benefited from his/her vote at the previous general election. I left it unanswered. In due course I received a letter enclosing my application telling me that unless I resubmitted the form with every question answered my application would not be considered. I duly filled in the name of the political party for which I had voted. That question was omitted from the form a few years later. The powers that be no longer want to know who their applicants vote for but now do want to know so much more about the essence of their very being.
All this might be considered under the term "woke or not woke". When universities and many institutions are afraid to issue firm declarations to students and others who foster hate at those whose opinions they oppose, who ignore antisemitism propagated at all levels of our society in the guise of "anti Zionism" there is a fear pervading many to whom society has bestowed influence that speaking out about any topic which questions current societal mores is a career and/or reputation breaker. In simple terms it`s called self censorship. When fear is the basis of the way we conduct our daily lives proto fascism is appearing over the political horizon. Unfortunately the Magistrates Association is slowly but surely being dragged into this cultural morass.
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