It seems the boys and girls in the MOJ press department in conjunction with their comrades at the Home Office have been hard at work recently on their keyboards. Like the proverbial monkeys one of whom will re write Hamlet one or two of them seem to have gotten their masters` messages across to a public becoming weary of this government`s final attempts at demonstrating that it is actually doing as well as talking before an expected 2024 general election. Of all the crass announcements none is more open to question (ridicule?) than the promise that offenders will be forced to wear high visibility jackets whilst undertaking "community payback" within 48 hours of being caught. This is supposedly a new initiative to ensure communities can have more harmonious lives without teenage yobs ruining their tranquillity. Younger readers might not be aware that the term "community payback" made its first legal appearance in 2010 when there was a National Probation Service worthy of its name. It failed in practice owing to the less than rigorous standards applied and a general lack of co-ordination amongst all the required parties involved. And also BTW that`s when the high vis waistcoats were issued and the ASBO was hailed as the finest new legal initiative to curb anti social behaviour. There was however one major difference in the application of said community service:- the offenders had been arrested, tried and been sentenced by a magistrates court. These safeguards were a balance of fair retribution and suitable judicial non custodial remedies. These new proposals apparently will have an offender paying back to the community within 48 hours of being apprehended such payback to have input from the public. There is no mention of the legal process as to how this ambition will be achieved. Inviting said public, i.e. you and I, to have an input on suitable retribution for those offenders will require a representative group of people to sit in judgement and listen to arguments from a prosecutor, probation officer and of course the offender. Indeed that sounds familiar; lets call it a court. I doubt whether similar requests for public opinion on punishment will be made for crimes of multiple or child murder or the murder of a police officer. I wonder why.
At a time when there are overwhelming arguments to decriminalise the use of weakest forms at least of cannabis it seems the hangers and floggers in government have persuaded the others to place the use of nitrous oxide as a category C drug offence. Considering that the toxic results of its use are very rare, especially compared with cannabis, this prohibition is just a high flying kite to that same group as lied to us on Brexit and seeks to ban immigration.
Littering and graffiti have also come under the heel of impending legal changes. Until recently my own council required an appointment for anyone seeking to dump rubbish at the major borough refuse collection site. If that were not an encouragement to fly tip heaven knows what more inducement could be offered. As with so many proposed rules without sufficient police patrols or underpaid little hitlers employed by councils fly tipping will continue to be a blight on all our landscapes whatever the consequences for those charged.
Finally a proposal from a case, I believe, originating in my former court, became headline news for magistrates in 2007. CJSSS Criminal Justice Simple Speedy and Summary was an initiative so important that every magistrate in the country was ordered to sit through a two hour training session so that its guidelines might be implemented as thoroughly as possible. Like all past and present and future "initiatives" it took off at rocket speed only later to be bogged down due to insufficient prosecutors and fully trained probation officers with some defence lawyers exploiting the possibility of delaying tactics when addressing magistrates too weak to object. "Putting the prosecution to proof" was one of the most common comments I recollect at the time emanating from such sources.
For as long as I can remember the justice system from police, probation, prison to courts has been underfunded to the point of near collapse for the simple reason that a law abiding public just doesn`t care and parsimonious government is skilled at salami slicing budgets of what it considers secondary ministries distant from tomorrow`s headline news. Those announcements commented upon above and the rest are just continuing the age old practice of wielding a big judicial stick for a short time then putting it back in the drawer hoping nobody remembers when the election is called. Perhaps this time will be different but "I hae ma doots", said the Highlander when asked a controversial question.
No comments:
Post a Comment