THE CHOICE IS BINARY

On 12th January I wrote at length on the trial of the Colston 4.  Thus I was pleased to note that the Attorney General whose decisions since taking office have not been above criticism has taken an interest in this case and referred it to the Court of Appeal.  From recent divergences of opinion on the law most notably Boris Johnson`s remarks on the exporting of illegal immigrants to Rwanda that he expects opposition in the courts as to the legality of his proposals a political divide between "woke" lawyers and the rest is becoming apparent.  It is also  apparent that the political divisions opened by the 2016 Referendum, itself an expedient act by David Cameron to hold together the Tory Party, have widened the gulf between our previously held opinions of what we call the Left and Right.  Differences in matters eg sexual orientation and gender have now become standards by which extremists view their world.........not ours but theirs because such individuals apply their self defined formulae to almost any activity or opinion.  Their world is an ugly one in which the choice is binary. You are for me or against me.  

Now I am leaving for a short holiday and so I hope to return here refreshed and wide awake but not woke in a couple of weeks or so. 

LOCAL COUNCILS ENCOURAGE FLY TIPPING

According to the government whether we like it or not restrictions imposed over the last two years to minimise the transmission of Covid 19 have been lifted.  We can all go about our business as we wish taking any precautions we deem helpful (if any at all)  and trusting in our own common sense and vaccinations. Sounds simple but there are some areas of our lives where Covid restrictions have been used to make more inroads into the way we live.  

Magistrates will be well aware of the increase in the numbers appearing before them on charges of fly tipping as are local councils who provide the first line of defence against those despoilers of our highways and byways.   Councils are able to issue on-the-spot fines to fly-tippers of up to £400 and can stop, search and seize vehicles suspected of being used for fly-tipping. Local authorities and the Environment Agency are also able to issue penalties of up to £400 to householders who do not pass their waste to a licensed carrier and whose waste is then found fly-tipped. Fly-tippers can also be prosecuted and taken to court which can lead to a significant fine and/or up to 12 months imprisonment if convicted in a Magistrates' Court or an unlimited fine and/or up to 5 years imprisonment if convicted in a Crown Court. Fly-tipping prosecutions are highly successful with over 98% of prosecutions resulting in a conviction in 2019/20.  

One would think therefore that councils would do all they can to facilitate the needs of their residents by enhancing the efficiencies of their dump sites.  One would be wrong.  The regular 9 or 10 am to 4pm no appointment needed operating hours pre Covid are now history for most if not all councils.  As an example Barnet Council in north London has decreed that 24 hours notice must be given to its major public dump site and an appropriate appointment made in order to use the facility. In addition it`s insisting on Covid imposed rules for those attending. What utter nonsense is this.  The union members on site are all too ready to follow these instructions but what of the population of 330K who are its customers?  Fly tipping is a scourge on our society along with many others but it can be controlled with local councils doing their very best to be council tax payers orientated.  Barnet amongst many others is giving two fingers to those who pay their workers` wages.   

OYEZ, OYEZ, OYEZ

There are millions of court cases annually in this country; a very small number is reported in the national and/or local media and an even smaller number is commented upon in legal publications.  It is therefore hardly surprising that the great British public apart from the third of adult males who have a criminal record has little idea of what constitutes justice.  

The issue of subcontractors working under IR 35 has primarily been an issue for accountants and their clients of whom there are or were millions.  To be or not to be an employee had little effect on those members of the public who perhaps many times removed were beneficiaries of what ostensibly was an arrangement between employer and contractor.  But there was and is a major dividing line at the sharp end of that contractual relationship: what is the result of negligent and/or less than satisfactory working standards of the contractor and harm or loss befalls the customer?  Until recently that position at least as far as dentists was unresolved. Dental practice owners have for many years operated a payment by results system for supposed independent self employed fellow dentists  working on a piecemeal basis.  I suppose the modern term which best describes the situation is zero hour contracts.  If a dentist in such a situation faces a charge of negligence or similar the practice principal has been able to stand aloof from the proceedings and the accused must defend him/herself as well as possible whether or not s/he has appropriate insurance.  That iniquitous situation is no more.  Last week the Court of Appeal finally ruled that the previous legal position was unfit for purpose; a long awaited reform to the benefit of anybody unfortunate enough to be dissatisfied with the quality of care in the dentist`s chair.    

Capital punishment was abolished in 1965.  There has been a not insubstantial minority since then convinced that decision was hasty and the rope should be held in reserve for the most heinous of crimes and their perpetrators.  One such category is the double murderer.  However when a double murderer  is released on license and goes on to commit a third murder hackles rise and it was last week  Lawrence Bierton pleaded guilty and so placed himself in that vary rare club of demons; a triple murderer. He is yet to be sentenced but it is unlikely he will receive anything less than a whole of life custodial order with no possibility of parole.  Should he hang? Would society be better served if that sentence were available? 

This column has previously alluded to the inequality of sentencing seemingly structured into our legal system. In basic terms sentence can vary as a miscreant`s contribution to and place in society.  Some will agree and others not.  But should this pharmacist be sentenced to custody or even custody suspended or not?  Read this report and decide. 

In some many areas of our lives text messages and e mails are ubiquitous.  From notice of deliveries to our or a neighbour`s front door to a confirmation a bank deposit has been received or  payment due the text tells us all but not in court.  This is an anachronism which is years overdue in being brought into the 21st century.  I doubt there is a single magistrate reading these words who has not had the experience of being told by a defendant that s/he had not received a letter from the court.  Sometimes the court will believe such a statement and sometimes not: competent presiding justices doing their job must exercise their interrogative techniques in coming to a decision as happened recently at  Worcester Magistrates Court.

And finally to those amongst us who think the law does not apply to them.........and I am not discussing the goings on at a house in London SW1.  Rather that description is proudly exploited by a group of so called activists who believe that the ends justify the means and juries who cannot or do not see or are  unwilling to face the reality that fascism often begins with such attitudes and terminology. Extinction Rebellion and associated groups sometimes with antisemitic overtones amongst its members have been and are using the law to undermine our society.  When this route is embarked upon there is no knowing where it will end.  In Northern Ireland in 1968 it began with peaceful marches but within a couple of years it travelled the road of car bombs, murder and civil war in all but name.  It is a road to anarchy.  The perennial question for a democratic country like ours is how far do we go to defeat the fascist who will do everything and anything to undermine that democracy.  The paradox is if and when it becomes necessary to employ undemocratic means to save that democracy are these means employed and to what extent?  In Northern Ireland internment without trial became a useful though limited  tool as did a single judge no jury  courts system; the so called Diplock Courts. To prevent our current state being transduced our law makers must be ahead of the game.  I hope they are. As the town crier would call to announce happenings to the people of the village; oyez, oyez, oyez.