WHICH IS MORE BELIEVEABLE? FACT OR FICTION

One of the pleasures that I find most agreeable on a leisure based late summer holiday is abandoning the daily newspaper and most TV news programmes and taking unrushed minutes and/or hours to read books which have been lying on the table or desk just waiting for months and years to be opened.  Two such publications were hurriedly packed a couple of weeks ago; "Munich" by Robert Harris and the first offering from the "Secret Barrister" published in 2017 and 2018 respectively. Two such different forms of writing and topic that at first glance one would thought that there was nothing within their pages that could be compared. 

The novel I read in full and the outpourings of the cynical legal eagle are so far unread past pp107.  Those pages however included SB`s diatribe against magistrates and the system in which they operate.  Robert Harris is rightfully recognised as a master within his field.  His scholarly narrative is well constructed of what in his imagination lay behind the appearance and words of Neville Chamberlain on 30th September 1938 when Chamberlain's aeroplane landed at Heston Aerodrome and he spoke to the spectators there:

"The settlement of the Czechoslovakian problem, which has now been achieved is, in my view, only the prelude to a larger settlement in which all Europe may find peace. This morning I had another talk with the German Chancellor, Herr Hitler, and here is the paper which bears his name upon it as well as mine [shows paper to crowd]. Some of you, perhaps, have already heard what it contains but I would just like to read it to you: " ... We regard the agreement signed last night and the Anglo-German Naval Agreement as symbolic of the desire of our two peoples never to go to war with one another again".  

Harris`s acknowledgements occupy two and a half closely typed pages.  His fictional account of the momentous four days prior to that speech is masterful and credible unlike the bile that the SB vomits over 38pp in his/her vile and outrageous descriptions or depictions of what life is like for all those who use the magistrates courts i.e. witnesses and all those who fulfil their professional functions within that arena.  S/He reserves her/his  contemptuousness for lay magistrates by anonymous accounts of the ineptitude supposedly experienced in her/his presence.  I can honestly say that in my 17 years on a London bench  with c300 members when I retired nine years ago  the majority as a presiding magistrate or chairman in the old parlance,  I have never heard, seen or experienced such language, action or behaviour as s/he purports to be the norm.  Unlike Robert Harris, a world renown writer of wonderful fiction, the SB is using untested anecdote to undermine a whole justice system to vent what seems to be personal frustration and/or antagonism. There is no doubt that there are serious criticisms that can and should be attended to in the magistrates courts. Since the book`s publication these problems have intensified.  There is unquestionably an argument that magistrates courts should have a single government salaried District Judge presiding: that eg [as was my practice], all defendants found guilty at trial should be told and have literature given to them of the appeal system: that trials should be in front of DJ with two lay magistrate wingers as currently in appeals  before a crown court judge flanked by two magistrates.  Magistrate selection and training leave a lot to be desired.  But venomous castigation and atypical quotations and observations to suit her/his purpose are not the way to process a needed investigation.  Latest figures from the Ministry of Justice indicate that there is no current trend to have more courts with DJs presiding than is the case now. 

About 20 years ago there was an academic inquiry, the exact name and terms of which are now lost to me, which came to the conclusion that if District Judges forfeited their need for a legal advisor [they are of course their own legal advisor] the costs of their employment would be in touching distance of the then current costs of magistrates` expenses plus associated advisors` salaries.  Indeed it will, IMHO, be when or if such an inquiry showed conclusively that lay magistrates cost more than district judges  and only then. that there will emerge a valid argument that lay magistrates have had their day in court.  

The Secret Barrister should consider retiring from writing whilst s/he is ahead and concentrate in performing the duties for which s/he is presumably ably qualified. "Fake Law" and "The Memoir of an Unlikely Lawyer" are not on my future reading list.  However with the £millions already pocketed from sales of over 600,000 copies perhaps s/he will conclude that the law was merely a stepping stone to her/his true vocation following in the footsteps of many of her/his legal predecessors.  At least then lay magistrates could hold their heads level if not high as they continue to prop up a system decaying in front of all us all.  

PLAINTIFF`S FINANCIAL BACKERS TAINT CLAIM

We`re all travelers.  We might not be Dr Who or interstellar voyagers but we often go on business or pleasure from point A to point B and increasingly we use paid for public transport and not our owned, leased or hired cars, vans or bicycles. As travelers we have become inured to strikes and delays when traveling on roads, trains and aeroplanes.  For some of us delays cause no more than inconvenience but for others the minutes, hours and occasionally days lost to causes outwith our control can have more serious consequences.  And this is when we look to the companies involved to provide compensation for the consequences of their inability to provide the service(s) for which we, the customer, have paid.  Consumer pressure on governments has led to the labyrinthine requirements of claiming recompense from rail and airline companies to be brought under some control and authority.  Indeed some few years ago my first class ticket on an Edinburgh train to London on January 2nd was unusable owing to the service`s cancellation.  The next train was so over occupied I sat on my case for much of the journey.  However on the bright side I was pleasantly surprised to find a few days later that my fare had been refunded by Virgin Trains which leads me to an interesting case decided last week at the High Court.  In summary a case brought against British Airways for compensation was thrown out owing to the motives of those who had financially backed the claimant.  To quote the judge, "I would not allow the claim to go forward as a representative action because the dominant motive for it lies in the financial interests of its backers".

As a humble retired magistrate I find the judge`s reasoning bizarre.  Many ex wives of Russian oligarchs and other very very wealthy men have employed lawyers on a no win no fee basis.  Group actions in other matters have been undertaken on the basis of a winning legal firm taking a pre agreed share of a compensation award.  Perhaps this one will be next heard of if or when it`s taken to the Court of Appeal or even Supreme Court. 

As I`m soon away for a couple of weeks hoping to enjoy limited  solar radiation and an excessive calorific intake this site will not be updated with my meandering comments on matters quasi legal until the latter days of September unless of course I`m delayed by an airline strike or perhaps erupting volcanoes over Iceland

POLAND, LUTON AIRPORT AND LESSONS FOR UK FOR THOSE WHO LISTEN

Having just arrived home late last night from a trip to Poland for the wedding of a colleague of my wife the last thing on my mind has been to let my remaining brain cells put together a few hundred words here as I`ve been doing for eleven years.  But some difficult opinions are trying to escape.

The nuptial venue was the town of Znin situated half way between Warsaw and Berlin.  The hotel was converted from a late 19th century and laterally a Soviet era sugar beet factory where all forms of large machines have been left in situ.  Politically the town has been considered as part of Prussia, Poland and USSR.  It was destroyed exactly 85 years ago by the Nazi invasion and occupation when  hundreds of its citizens were murdered.  It seems that many workers and (Polish) guests were still existing in the Soviet era.  The facilities seemed to open and close at a whim and nobody wanted to take responsibility when any queries arose.  There were no TV programmes available in anything but Polish language, no newspapers, one only internal sign in English, not even that in German and most of the staff were monolingual.  Poznan airport seemed to have been designed with Polish citizens only in mind.  And now to my overlapping brain cells making a connection with the aforementioned to the experience on returning to Luton Airport.  

Restoring my phones`s link with the outside world  on landing there was a message that my son`s car had developed a battery problem and he would be unable to be there for pick up.  And so began the revelation that those functionaries in HI VIS jackets whose sole task for which I presume they are adequately rewarded is to answer the questions of travellers on arriving at perhaps a new destination with some degree of knowledge.  Speaking to the person at the onward travel area wrong information on costs of coach, train [and availability] taxis, Uber were offered.  At the coach stop waiting area the only four seats were occupied and, still in recovery from major surgery, the thought of standing unsupported for 40 minutes until the coach arrived was not a solution.  Further HI VIS advice was to take a coach to a train.  We were further taken on advice to the wrong train station.  There we were directed to the wrong platform for a train to Kings Cross. Just in time we were then told to change platforms as the service to Three Bridges was approaching.  Where in god`s name is Three Bridges?  Oh! that`s somewhere near Gatwick.  My point to another yellow jacketed person presumably an employee of Network Rail was why did the indicator board not specify that Kings Cross,  AKA St Pancras International, was a stop en route to somewhere miles south of the Thames.    

My opinion of Poles and Poland bearing in mind current events and the recent upheavals in that country over the last decade lead me to believe that there is a national insularity within the psyche of those responsible for the running of the state and those who are living in their own European crossroad where East and West have contested their homeland for centuries.  

And where is Britain on the spectrum of calm cool people ruled by calm cool government with workers of all sorts striving to do their best for those who pay them and for those they service?  Identity politics {Corbyn led} inspired in part by foreign machinations fanning flames of antisemitism which is of course denied by the fanners insofar as it`s "Zionists" who are the evil doers, is now beginning to establish a forum to further ruin any idea of Britishness  begun by the SNP and its Welsh counterpart.  The democratic Right of the Conservatives having apparently lost its ideological battle has flitted to what might be an embryonic fascist party in the making. Our justice system, a pillar on which our supposed democracy rests, has been demonstrated to be as fragile as the egos of those who sit in SW1.  A new Prime Minister who has pitifully demonstrated that all he learned at the Ministry of Justice is as naught when the judicial system must be an adjunct to this government`s version of its predecessor`s in its actions on public disorder ["crime"] and its deterrence.  

All the above is alive and kicking in Poland.  It is not inevitable that this country can escape the machinations and upheavals of Europe which over the centuries have led to ruin and sometimes resurrection for so many.  We were then united in being what we are; proud to be British and able to reject the stirrings of authoritarianism.  In 1656 Jews were allowed to settle in Britain, Britain was the first nation to abolish slave trading in 1807 and in 1918 the Parliament (Qualification of Women) Act 1918 was passed, allowing women to be elected to Parliament although full suffrage was delayed until a decade later.  Post 1945 and the end of empire were the forces the ripples of which are still having their effects on how we live today.  The immigration of black people from the West Indies and african former colonies has generally been a social and industrial success.  The import of those whose first consideration is their adherence to a war conqueror and his visions of the 7th century has been anything but enhancement to a united society.  

We are where we are and have naught to blame but ourselves.  The Roman and other ancient empires went out more with a whimper than a bang.  Are our ears sensitive enough as a nation to steer us in the right direction that our children and their children will have a home known as UK?    

IS JPs` PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION A HARBINGER OF AN UNPLEASANT FUTURE?

It seems an axiom of western democracy that those sitting in judgement over their fellow citizens have the respect of those fellow citizens. In America judges are elected.  In this country they are appointed. Having myself been appointed as a Justice of the Peace I don`t intend to discuss the merits of both arrangements, at least not today.  But what I do think is of interest is the very recent publication of the ethnic, social, sexual, age, education, religion and disability status of applicants both successful and unsuccessful.

Statisticians academic, political and journalistic are probably having a field day in pouring all the revealed numbers, crunching them in a soup of algorithms and making hay with the results perceived and/or implied.   

As an opening example in the South East Region 96% of applicants declared themselves as heterosexual.  That compares with the North East 92%, London 90%, North West 88% and Wales 89%.  I leave it to others if further such comparisons are wanted. 

For the year 2022-23 the religion of applicants was as follows:- Christian 2328 = 49%, Muslim 307 = 6%, Jewish 97 = 2%, Buddhist 25 = 1%, Hindu 119 = 2%, Sikh 70 = 1%, None + Other 1829 = 38% and Unknown = 341.     Of those the following were shortlisted:- Christian 960 = 50%, Muslim 61 = 3%, Jewish 41 = 2%, Buddhist 11 = 1%,  Hindu 36 = 2%, Sikh 25 = 1%, None + Other 804 = 42%, Unknown 133.   These are figures for England and Wales but the pen pushers at the MOJ have also those numbers broken down regionally. 

Applications were also broken down by age, sex, ethnicity, educational levels of applicant and parent(s),  type of school attended, disability and employment status.  All these variables are also available region by region.  The amount of personal and computing effort to achieve these statistics is almost incomprehensible. But that, for those ordering such a task,  was to fulfil a mantra [with apologies to Abraham Lincoln], to have a judicial system of the people by the people and for the people.  Such deference to a system which was once lauded as "local justice" when magistrates could sit only in their own designated court is now but a charade.  Rules were changed about two decades ago to allow magistrates in theory to be deployed at any court in England and Wales. Of course for practical reasons there is a heavy limitation on that availability. District Judges [MC] are under no such geographical restrictions.  Like their senior colleagues they are free to apply for posts wherever they consider suitable for their requirements.  They are as "local" as those on the Supreme Court.  It must be kept in mind that District Judges preside alone in magistrates courts with exactly the same powers and authority as lay magistrates although as has been the case in recent weeks certain types or classes of offenders are specifically brought in their courts and not in front of the "locals" whom the MOJ must consider are unable to follow the orders given to their highly paid government funded judicial civil servants.  The relative allocation of cases to District Judges vis a vis lay magistrates is currently unknown. 

The basis of the magistrates courts system is that a quality of justice is best achieved  by matching the make up of the citizenship with those before whom alleged offenders plead their case.  It follows that government believes that that policy is approved by the population.  As far as I am aware there has never been a reputable or any other survey to ascertain whether or not that belief has any foundation in reality.  The fundamental question is whether any quota system whatever its constitution selects the best people for the intended task.  In simple terms what began decades ago as pressure for women not to be excluded from certain jobs owing to their sex has now extended to almost every aspect of society where discrimination perceived or actual has spawned a billion £ industry of employment legislation, lawyers and tribunals.  When registered blind people are appointed to the magistracy can it truly be upheld that their disability does not prevent them functioning as their normally sighted colleagues?  A parliamentary question and answer Volume 234: debated on Monday 27 January 1930 is copied below re the then minimum height requirements of the Metropolitan Police.

Mr. DAY

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asked the Home Secretary whether the temporary modification of the height standard of the Metropolitan constabulary which was introduced during the previous 12 months is still in existence; and whether there is still difficulty in obtaining sufficient suitable recruits at the normal minimum height?

Mr. CLYNES

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The temporary reduction of the minimum height to 5 feet 8½ inches has not been removed, but in practice it is found possible at present to obtain sufficient recruits of 5 feet 9 inches or over; with very few exceptions.

Today there are no height restrictions on joining any UK police service.  

There are some who will egard my observations as emanating from the age of dinosaurs; that is their privilege.  Is this form of active identity politics conducive to a coherent society?  By showboating a population`s differences when there are but fading memories of what united that population in previous times we are creating what in the past might have been termed fiefdoms.  Rabble rousers from marxist to fascist have long known that to further their cause divisions in a society  must be exploited.  My fear is that we are in many respects experiencing government and politics from the days of Thatcher on the Right to Corbyn on the Left having made an ideal bed for extremism to grow that the magistrates courts system of local proportional representation is just a minor harbinger of an unpleasant future. 

        

FORKED TONGUE OF JUDICIAL AUTHORITY

Since the far off "golden" days of Hollywood westerns where Tom Mix or Hopalong Cassidy rode the plains with their white stetsons indicating that they were the "goodies" and movie makers had recently invented soundtracks to enhance the audience experience, there was a phrase scripted to one of the "good" indians to describe the lying, cheating, murderous black stetson wearing "baddies"; "You speak with forked tongue".  I believe to this day that that phrase describing the sensory split tongue of snakes is understood by most people: to utter two diametrically opposite opinions or statements more or less simultaneously:  in simple terms to lie whilst pretending to be truthful.  

For one class of people that ability is now a given.  Indeed it is expected that politicians do not, cannot, will not be truthful.  It is built into the profile of politicians to such depth that any form of honesty is itself treated with incredulity by so many.  However there was a single class of respected public servant excluding the previously held high expectations of medical practitioners`  probity who seemed to be above criticism and were beyond reproach.  

Midway through the third decade of this millenium the justice system isn`t just cracked; it`s not just broken.  It is smashed into such tiny pieces that it`s unlikely ever to be reassembled in any form worthy of the name.  As in so many countries authoritarianism creeps steadily along the political pathway to "never in this country, this is England" places thought as foreign to the British way of life just as spaghetti or lasagne were described by a student friend to me when at university, "I never eat that Tally rubbish".  Judges are now openly demonstrating that their so called independence within our unwritten constitution is but a sham.   

The Deputy Senior Presiding Judge, Lord Justice Green who sits on the Appeal Court, has ordered magistrates not to send anyone to custody until 10th September because the prisons are full to exploding. The government orders to the courts i.e. judges, subsequent to the riots were to make an example of what has so far reached over 1,000 alleged or convicted offenders already sentenced to immediate custody or on remand.  On 10th September the government will activate an emergency early release scheme which it estimates will free up 3,700 cell places by 22nd October.  But the judicial snake in the grass is that he commented for the eyes and ears of  magistrates and presumably District Judges [MC] that as the courts "are responsible it is therefore appropriate that the judiciary have regard to the wider functioning of the criminal justice system." He added that, "consideration should be given to rescheduling the hearing for the shortest possible hearing.....but not earlier than 10th September."  But then he went on, "every case must be considered individually and decisions must be made upon the basis of the interests of justice.......and needs to be a carefully conducted exercise."  And thus is demonstrated the accuracy of that description so accurately described by the script writers of another era; "forked tongue". 

Remember Dr Doolittle and that animal the PushMePullYou?  That is just another version of the forked tongue but simplified and animated for children.  But we are not children or watching a 1930s black and white western movie.  We are witness to the historical supposed independence of the magistracy [and judiciary in general] being trashed to accord with the whims of government.  

JUSTICE ON A LOOP LIKE A SUPER MOON

As a retired magistrate aged 70+ I have been plagued with arthritic issues as many of my  contemporaries have been.  In an attempt to tolerate the discomfort without the benefits of the world`s pharmaceutical industry I recently offered myself to a profession the history of which is lost in 2,000 years of Chinese time.  Lying on a trolley with incredibly sharp needles piercing my limbs for twenty minutes I was subjected to what seemed an endless loop of piano playing and harp plucking which combined in a sophomoric lullaby with no discernable melody endlessly repeating itself.  I was reminded of the new government`s  pronouncements on knife crime and simultaneously pledges, assurances, intentions etc from an earlier Labour government in 1997. On 21/09/2008 Jack Straw then Minister for Justice in his speech at the Labour Party Conference said; " Yesterday we saw the determination of those affected by knife crime as they marched through London. We stand firm with all those who know too well the devastating impact these crimes have and as Jacqui will be spelling out  later, all of us pledge that we will relentlessly keep up our efforts to tackle it."  Every minister responsible for policy on criminal activity since then has repeated a similar mantra as if it were looped on the internal sound systems of the Home Office and Ministry of Justice.  So..........here we go again just like clockwork..........a government promising to go down hard on those carrying  knives.  We`ve been here so often before that it appears to be a right of passage for newly installed ministers at Justice to proudly announce their latest attempt to make our streets safer although no one name is more associated with this latest pronouncement than our esteemed Prime Minister who reminds us regularly of his history as the hard man DPP of 2011.  And who can forget the oleaginous tones of his predecessor when he pledged in 1997 to be  "tough on crime and tough on the causes of crime". 

And so to today when figures show that nearly half of all knife possession cases recorded by police in 2023 led to no further action.  The government has stated that it intends to “end the practice of empty warnings by ensuring knife carrying triggers rapid intervention and tough consequences”.  There is also the promise to ban ninja swords, lethal zombie-style blades and machetes and strengthen rules to prevent online sales with the executives of online companies that flout these rules being personally held to account through tough sanctions.  In short this government, like those which have gone before, since the the time of the saintly Thatcher who bestowed rose petals wherever she walked, tells us it will make the streets safe for all to walk through the witching hours even with £50 notes stuck to their foreheads and targets on their backs.   

And so the loop plays on.  The justice system in its entirety from arrest to zombie knives and all matters between might be termed the cinderella of a failed economic policy since 2008.  Unless they face a penalty for a road traffic infringement on one hand or have the misfortune to have had a bike or mobile phone stolen from the other most people are distanced from the courts which are in a spiral of despair for all connected with them.  Of course that disconnect does not seem to have affected the lawyers and oligarchs arguing over the sources or destinations of billions of $$$$$$$ in often ill gotten gains.  

Like those in charge of our armed forces those controlling the law and its constituent parts continue to fob us off with their words with no meaning as the generals and admirals do about an army with no ammunition  and aircraft carriers with no aircraft.  

Last night there was a super Moon owing to its distance from Earth being 15% closer than the furthest point in its orbit.  That looping or elliptical lunar orbit was observed by the ancients and will continue until the solar system is consumed by a black hole. Although Justice delayed is justice denied  is an old adage with biblical origins I fear the resurrection of our justice system might take a little longer. 

THE MANTRA OF DETERRENCE

There can`t be anybody however remotely involved with legal matters who won`t have a view on the aftermath of the recent riots.  The mantra of the police, whilst still in denial over accusations of operating a two tier policing approach, is we will find you and we will arrest you to appear in court or words to that effect. Politicians of most persuasions have weighed in with support for strong measures to prevent subsequent similar events. The courts, where magistrates seem to have been frozen out of these hearings,  and therefore under the jurisdiction of District Judges and Crown Court Judges seem to have been ordered by the executive i.e. Kier Starmer PM, to dish out sentences towards their maximum according to the Sentencing Guidelines.  This, judges and politicians assert, is to act as a deterrent against future such events.  

Sentencing, which the Sentencing Council appears to view as a science, is as much an art as a manipulation of algorithms. After conviction a sentence should be based on level of law breaking and the offender`s history and circumstances.  The effect of sentence should be punishment, rehabilitation of offender, protection of the public where needed and deterrence against others who might be following or intend to follow a similar  criminal lifestyle.  It is this last consideration which seems to be the basis of the immediate custodial sentences handed out to those who admitted on line offending. The National Police Chiefs Council said specialist officers have been tasked with pursuing suspected online offenders and so-called influencers who, they say, are responsible for “spreading hate and inciting violence on a large scale”.  A spokesman said that online content would be assessed by a senior investigator to determine if it meets the criminal threshold and offenders will then be identified, arrested and charged. They reasoned that they knowingly spread misinformation, stoked the flames of hatred and division and incited violence from the comfort of their own homes, causing chaos on other people’s doorsteps.  And to emphasise his point  the spokesman continued that online crimes have real world consequences and offenders would be dealt with in the same way as those physically present and inflicting the violence.

This policy is determining that deterrence for individuals is applicable to criminal activity by crowds. From pre history execution by tribal elders to British judges donning black head coverings prior to sentencing a felon to death by hanging has been a feature of our justice system until capital punishment was finally abolished in 1969.  We, the public, were assured that "life" sentences would still be available as a deterrent for murder.  Currently there are 9.7 homicides per million population in England and wales.  In 1968 there were 360 official homicides. and in 2023 the number was 944.  I think it`s safe to say that for many criminals the prospect of a life sentence has lost its deterrent value. But the above is the reasoning behind what was a hoped for effect on an individual acting in an individual capacity.  Current actions seem to indicate that this government and the prime minister believe that criminal group activity can also be deterred in a similar fashion irrespective of the morality of the policy.  

As with a few serious offences violent disorder, apparently the most common charge being used against rioting offenders, can be tried summarily at a magistrates court with a maximum sentence of six months custody  or at a crown court where a jury will decide whether a not guilty plea leads to acquittal or a guilty plea or verdict offers the prospect of a five year maximum prison sentence.   Full statistics on these matters will not be available for some months.  With reference to my post last week it is unlikely we will ever know if lay magistrates were involved in any of the sentencing of offenders facing summary charges as a result of the disturbances.  So much for the much vaunted  mantra of the Ministry of Justice of local justice for local people. 

I would conclude by questioning whether publicly declaring that severe sentences will act as a deterrent to further similar offending has enhanced the "hard man" image that Kier Starmers is trying to project.  I would also suggest that the deterrent effect is in itself a mirage in such circumstances.  Finally the control over District Judges, if indeed lay magistrates have been by passed for these sittings, is just another example of how the judiciary is not quite as independent as is regularly claimed by all shades of politicians.  

NOT RACIST PARIAHS

Politicians, we are led to believe, are forever considering the public interest. To suggest that their actions and/or behaviour is more like the goldfish swimming endlessly around its bowl for the first time  is to belittle the good fortune that we in this country have many saints and few sinners to govern us. 

On 9th August 2011 whilst there was still disorder on the streets from riots initiated by the shooting dead of a criminal by Metropolitan Police I wrote on my as yet to be published diary:-

"Most right minded people will have been shocked by what they`ve seen on their television screens since Sunday night. It seems that for whatever reason; lack of planning and co-ordination at a high level, lack of will, lack of resources, lack of confidence or failure of communication the Metropolitan Police were unable to clear the streets of trouble making youths intent on plunder pure and simple. This is exactly what happened last December in the West End of London. Police virtually abandoned the task of clearing the streets."

I have copied below from my yet to be published diary of 11th August 2011:-

 

"It had to happen; police complaining magistrates are being too soft both in bail decisions and sentences. I`m sitting tomorrow in a borough which was spared the anarchy of those nearby. Perhaps there will be some displaced rioters, looters and thieves before us? Under normal circumstances everyone has a right to bail and remands in custody are made only when there are grounds to believe a defendant will commit further offences, interfere with the course of justice or fail to appear at the future date specified and that no bail conditions will allay a court`s fears. Defendants of previous good character are often given the benefit of any doubt the above circumstances notwithstanding. Sentencing is applied to individuals and their particular circumstances. Many police officers seem to believe it appropriate that maximum sentences are given willy nilly. It ill behoves senior police officers to criticise the courts. When their own house is in order their comments might have more significance.

What is disturbing is the political pressure being applied by the Prime Minister in his televised statements and his remarks in the House today indicating custody as the expected option. Even disregarding the fact that defendants will be facing myriad charges, some summary only and some either way, no bench or District Judge[MC] should be influenced by this ill conceived posturing. My colleagues and I will do as we always do:- 

"We will well and truly serve our Sovereign Lady Queen Elizabeth the Second, in the office of Justice of the Peace and we will do right to all manner of people after the laws and usages of the realm without fear or favour, affection or ill-will."

It all seems so depressingly familiar.  We are reminded by MSM that our prime minister was in charge of legal activities in August 2011 and was masterly in his actions to identify, prosecute and punish offenders.  His objective was to have guilty offenders punished ASAP perhaps hoping that the Pavlov effect would be a deterrence to others.  He had then at his disposal twice as many magistrates courts as now, twice as many magistrates as now, 147K police of whom majority were experienced, a functioning probation service and 1,200 prison spaces.  Currently there are 1,458 such spaces.  The CPS report for 2011-12 makes no mention of the number of prosecutors employed.  What we do know is that between the year 2010/11 and 2011/12 the total number of CPS employed personnel fell from 8,094 to 7,394.  

The 2011 riots, whilst causing material damage and physical harm to some, were largely caused by indignation within areas where there was a concentration of black people many taking their example from the reactions of black Americans to the iniquities of white American police officers on black suspects.  Brexit and its consequences have been argued to have been a spark to an already volatile minority.  The current mayhem might be traced to October 8th last year when supporters of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign demonstrated against Israel whilst the dead bodies of 1,200 festival attenders and civilians were still warm lying in the sands a mile or so from Gaza from their murder the previous day and 250 hostages dead and alive were themselves taken to Gaza. Despite the open hate on display the Metropolitan Police then and for almost every weekend since have allowed blatantly anti Jew themed marches to proceed under the pretext that anti Zionist sentiment is not camouflage for anti Jewish sentiment. An unholy alliance of Islamists, marxists and fascists was and is involved in that expression of hate.  The election of July 4th and the emergence of Reform as a parliamentary party has emboldened the fascist element within an increasingly disillusioned section of the population to argue that immigration concerns, legal and illegal, have reached a point which has taken the subject from statistics to personal disturbance of their daily lives. 

From the point of view of  observers the former DPP now the prime minister is putting into practice the same methods he considered suitable in 2011 but perhaps without the resources available in 2011.  With crown and magistrates courts stymied by physical and personnel shortages it is unclear just how effective his wish list can be realised. Overnight court sittings didn`t last long last time out. A Guardian report of the time makes interesting reading.  Whether the charges faced by defendants are summary eg common assault, affray which is either way or robbery which is indictable only they must be heard initially at magistrates court.  In 2011 Justices Clerks who control day to day running of courts were told that all matters relating to the rioting which were either way must be sent to the crown court.  They were also directed to place as many as possible before a District Judge rather than a bench of lay magistrates in the apparent belief that salaried judges were unlikely to disobey their paymasters.  At my London court at that time as far as I know there were very few if any overnight sittings. At 9.30am on the first morning at which suspects of the August disturbances  were brought to court for their first appearance the Deputy Justices Clerk told a very crowded retiring room that all those facing either way charges must be sent to the crown court.  I was presiding magistrate of one such court.  During the sitting a teenage black female defendant appeared on an either way charge which as I recollect was affray or theft.  We heard the facts and the prosecutor`s request that the matter be sent to the crown court.  We were disturbed. The facts as presented to us did not warrant our not keeping the case.  We had a brief huddle in which we were absolutely in agreement. I whispered our decision to our legal advisor assuring her we would explain in open court that her (unsaid) advice was contrary to our decision thus absolving her from retribution.  In my remarks I plainly told the court that we were going against the advice from our advisor but that as independent magistrates it was our decision to make.  We never heard any more on our decision.  

It seems that nothing at all has been learnt from 2011.  When it comes to the crunch it appears that politics trumps legal niceties.  It is not unlikely that the accusation  against the Metropolitan Police [and others] of tolerating terrorist enablers and supporters of racial hatred  for six months  thus encouraging a wider range of law breaking will quietly go away. 

14 years of Tory government ineptitude and institutional misinformation laid upon the naivety of Labour under Blair and Brown importing millions of people from alien cultures have brought us to this situation.  It is only the near authoritarian governments of one or two EU members which have not experienced similar disturbances to their civil societies. Try as it might our new masters cannot brush the consequences of Muslim immigration under the carpet when the numbers who disdain our society, culture and history are such a large minority and those questioning such information considered against all reason as racist pariahs by those with their own agendas.   

SJP TRANSPARENCY?

For those who are aware of some of the shortcomings of the Single Justice Procedure Heidi Alexander The Minister of State, Ministry of Justice has published what she considers a suitable answer to the lack of information publicly available for such cases.  IMHO she seems to be arguing that it`s as quick to travel from London to Aberdeen via Cardiff as it is direct. 

MAGISTRATES COURTS ARE DROWNING

 

Financial impositions and amounts paid by imposition type

In Q3 2023 the total value of impositions increased compared to the previous quarter (up 7%). The latest imposition figure is 32% above that seen in the previous year, with increases seen across all imposition types – most notably a more than doubling in the amount imposed for victim surcharge, up from £12.8m in Q3 2022 to £27.4m in Q3 2023.

Outstanding financial impositions

In Q3 2023, the total value of financial impositions outstanding in England and Wales was £1.56 billion, up 3% on the previous quarter and 12% on the previous year. [my bold].

The amount of outstanding financial impositions is now nearly 3 times the amount in Q1 2015 (£571m). A change in policy regarding the collection of financial impositions is partially behind this cumulative increase – unpaid accounts are no longer routinely closed and therefore, more outstanding impositions are carried over from previous periods.

The above is copied from government published criminal courts statistics. In 2023, 80% of all offenders were sentenced to a fine. In round figures that translates as 830,000 defendants in criminal courts being sentenced to a fine.  Summary motoring offences accounted for 73% of all fines: so much for some basic statistics.  Means courts were part of everyday life as a magistrate when I was active.  I have no knowledge whether such courts now operate under the Single Justice Procedure.  What I do know is that they allowed the bench the unusual and difficult for some colleagues` task of being an inquisitorial magistrate in the continental style to ascertain as far as possible wholly accurate and complete answers to questions on offenders` incomes whether at a personal or company level.  In practice this meant demanding audited accounts previously submitted to HMRC or perhaps e.g. wage slips over a specified period.  It was standard practice to tell those with unpaid fines that such fines were the first liability in any legal financial liability claims pending.  Whatever governments in power might say now or previously the inefficient pursuit of outstanding fines makes a mockery of the system.  

The ladder of punishments available when summary justice has been duly carried out has for decades been fine, community service and prison.  The disaster within the prison system is public knowledge and  the probation service is on its knees.  This now leaves some creative thinking of how magistrates courts should impose financial penalties and how their payment must be ensured. 

A Bassetlaw fly tipper was recently sentenced to a community penalty.  His case appeared typical of such law breaking.  It was to perform an illegal activity {not a householder disposing of his/her own unwanted ephemera} for financial gain.  Surely a financial penalty high enough to hurt in the pocket would have been a more suitable outcome.  However that would have required further hearings which, with the enormous court backlogs, Deputy Justices Clerks would have frowned upon.  

With rising vehicle insurance premiums it is likely that future statistics will show an increasing number of drivers guilty of "no insurance".  Fines for such an offence must be raised beyond current limits:- Fine Band A  i.e. 50% of relevant weekly income within the range  25 – 75% of relevant weekly income.  Out of the box thinking, a difficulty for those inculcated in the ethos of "do not disturb", must be applied to the whole structure of the magistrates courts.  The system is beyond needing sticking plaster.  It needs life saving treatment to avoid drowning.  

DIVERSITY? IT`S ALL A RUSSIAN DOLL

A simple question: in what aspects of life is it required, beneficial or necessary that those offering, receiving or supplying services be representative of the population as a whole?  The corollary is that in what areas of our society is such representation unnecessary, unwanted or unattainable?  Apart from the Chinese armed forces the NHS is the largest employer in the world. As of June 2023 81.3% of NHS staff in England are British. 8.6% report an Asian nationality and 5.2% are EU nationals. This varies in different parts of the country. In London 30% of staff report a non-British nationality. Around 265,000 out of 1.5 million staff country wide reported a non-British nationality in June 2023 up from 220,000 a year earlier. This amounts to nearly one in five of NHS staff with a known nationality.  An analysis shows more than two fifths (42%) of doctors, dentists and consultants and almost a third (29.2%) of our nurses, midwives and health visitors are from black and minority ethnic backgrounds.  In March this year one quarter of care workers and home carers was born outside of the UK according to the Office for National Statistics.  Such statistics can be obtained for many if not most occupations such is the determination of government and pressure groups to ensure that there is no racial  discrimination within the workforce.  But the watchword now is "diversity".  Indeed several UK universities offer degrees in diversity or on a similar basis e.g. cultural heritage; Manchester, Lincoln and the University of Wales.  The "D" word has become an industry.  It has also become a totem as sacred to human resources departments as it was and is to native Americans where the term originated. 

Nowhere has the supposed need for diversity become more of an objective in itself  than in the  judiciary and particularly within the magistary. Recently published statistics on applications and applicants reveal everything about those aspiring to sit on the bench except perhaps graphs of self declared ego, social status, height and weight, IQ and income.    There were 14,576 magistrates in post across England and Wales as at 1 April 2024, up 9% compared to the previous year and the second consecutive annual increase.  Of the 5,131 applications to join the magistracy which concluded in 2023-24, 2,008 were for appointments as recorded on the new magistrates recruitment process introduced in January 2022.  For example we now know that in the year 2022-23 in London 288 ethnic minority candidates representing 53% of such applications did not make a shortlist as did 257 white applicants who also failed.  However the total number i.e. percentage of all white applicants in London who failed is not published. From the current 2023-24 figures we learn that 2% of applications to the magistary were self declaring Jewish and 6% Muslim.  Last census showed the Jewish population of England and Wales as 0.5% and 6.7% as Muslims.  13% of applications were from those who attended independent schools; approximately twice the percentage of children currently and historically  attending such schools.  Of those recommended  for appointment in the current batch 2% were Jewish and 4% were Muslim.  18% were over 60 years of age, 84% were white, 15% were Asian, black or of mixed race and 52% attended a university.  1,091 or 57% of those recommended for appointment declared themselves to be "professional".  Manual, service, technical and craft workers comprised 8% of successful applicants.  Female successes were 58% in all.  There is much in all the numbers for demographers, sociologists, trade union bosses, politicians and many others to feed from for many months. But my point is whether all this is really necessary.  The latest publication from the MOJ is available here.

The CEO of the Magistrates Association has stated that "Recruitment has failed to produce a magistracy that reflects society".  Should the lower court be reflected on this subject in this way?  District Judges (MC) also sit in magistrates courts.  Their proportion of sittings cf their lay colleagues is a secret known only to His Majesty`s Courts and Tribunals  Service.  We do know that about 90% of them are white. Of 37 lords justices of appeal 33 are men and four are women. On the supreme court, 11 justices are men and one a woman and all white.  If we are undergoing surgery do we need to know the diversity statistics of eg anaesthetists?  Of course we don`t.  We have confidence [or should have] in those supervising the appointment of such experts. I might just remind the reader of my previous two posts on the current failings of those who appoint these supervisory bodies but for the present I must assume that in principle good order applies. It can be argued that having magistrates as representative of those over whom they are in judgement might give confidence to a population but is it not as important that their abilities to perform their task are obvious to all?  Over the last two hundred years prejudices in many aspects of our societies have dissipated.  The Emancipation Act of 1829 admitted Irish and English Roman Catholics to Parliament and to all but a handful of public offices.  Jews who had been previously excluded from being MPs were granted full civil rights in 1858.  The Race Relations Act 1965 was the first piece of legislation in the UK to address the prohibition of racial discrimination and followed previously unsuccessful bills. The watchword for the magistracy should be competence.  Is it simplistic to consider that  being a magistrate is to exercise mental abilities and that those who have shown such capacity are more suited to appointment than those whose skills lie in other directions?  Would a consultant cardiologist perhaps be a more capable candidate that her cardiac surgeon colleague?  Perhaps appointments committees are approaching their task as a physicist involved in quantum physics:  the study of matter and energy at the most fundamental level aiming to uncover the properties and behaviours of the very building blocks of nature whereas an astrophysicist focuses on celestial bodies and the cosmic phenomena that shape the universe.  In common terms current fashion is a micro view rather than a macro view.  And what of the lawyers who sometimes show their distaste at being under the direction of a non lawyer however capable?  Within the legal profession anecdotally their opinion of magistrates varies from "muppets" to comments that they are "out of their depth".  To my knowledge no survey has ever been undertaken to discern the real thoughts of criminal lawyers who regularly attend magistrates courts.  

It appears that diversity is the tail that wags the dog of magistrates` appointments.  There has always been an argument that all courts i.e. magistrates courts, should be presided over by full time professional legally qualified judges of whom around 400 are currently in office.  Two decades ago an academic study calculated that if District Judges operated without a legal advisor the costs would be comparable to the then 30,000 magistrates` expenses.   14,576 magistrates are currently listed.  The reality is that generally magistrates get it right when it comes to trial verdicts and sentencing.  My post of  28th May 2024 offers detailed analysis.  If ouvert prejudices in professions and workplaces were always taken seriously and the current obsession with "minor offensive aggressions" were consigned to the dustbins of sociology departments perhaps there would be no need to put diversity at the pinnacle of human resources executives` required "successes".  

Once more I place responsibilities on those who appoint the advisory committees who appoint magistrates.  If they are, as might be the case, as blinkered as a Derby thoroughbred their failings will be hidden from us.  Diversity can be seen as as camouflage for their inefficiencies.  It`s all a Russian doll.   

GROUPTHINK

I have long been critical of appointments committees, advisory committees or any other term for supervisory bodies.  Recent headlines, at least in some recent cases, have reinforced my opinions.  First used in the 1940s the term “woke” has resurfaced in recent years as a concept that symbolises perceived awareness of social issues and movement against injustice, inequality, and prejudice.  Over the last decade the word has morphed into being aware of supposed inequitable judicial outcomes in the courts.  For those caught in its etymological net  it can be an assessment of how much their thinking processes are of a type approved by those who call themselves "progressives".  For those including this blogger who oppose almost all opinions in line with the "w" word straight talking has become more of a risk than ever it was. What was once good humoured and/or honest workplace banter is something that now might lead to an employment tribunal declaring as prejudicial to one party or another.  

Such was the case of social worker Rachel Meade who was suspended for her gender beliefs.  She was awarded £58,000 in damages in April from Westminster city council.  This was another case where a regulating authority, Social Work England, suspended her over her belief that a person cannot change his/her sex.  She didn`t get the headlines as some more active in this controversial subject have received but serves as an example of how far into "correct" thinking those who are appointed to supervise the supervisors have sunk into a morass which to them is as rigid as in any authoritarian jurisdiction.   There is more information here. 

Rioting students indoctrinated by media misinformation have been causing havoc at universities here and elsewhere justifying their actions that it is an offense to humanity that a nation under repeated attacks with more promised in the future cannot use the necessary means to defend its people.  Using tactics seen in 1930s Germany can be excused by some as young people searching for a cause but public libraries fulfilling their duties especially to young people to offer a vast range of material to inspire, enjoy and improve their imaginations and intellectual boundaries are a different matter. Assuming the books on offer are within the legal limits of what might be offered there surely should be a natural revulsion that they should censor what might be available according to age groups, authors and subjects.  Would that that were the case.  It seems that the watchword itself a woke term is "offensive".  Librarians appear to be acting on public requests to remove books from the shelves at a rate never before experienced. Banning books is not as direct a pointer to impending totalitarianism as burning books but it is a signal that many people are exhibiting signs that consciously or otherwise they have little confidence in being part of a democratic society. A Freedom of Information request, after analysis, showed that of 204 councils 163 responded. 17 did not have information of how many titles had been removed.  11 councils revealed that 16 books were removed after a single objection from a customer, parent or librarian on the grounds of being racist, divisive, inappropriate, violent or outdated.  A full account is available from Free Speech Union.     

Those librarians were presumably interviewed by council officials or their sub contractors.  If their censorious attitudes were clear at that time why were they employed.  If they were hidden on application and from interviewer it demonstrates the incompetence of those interviewing panels in failing their required duties and those who employed them.  

It`s a couple of decades since I was part of the national workforce but I do remember when I first was being paid for my presumed expertise remarking more than once to an older male colleague in the lightest possible manner with a smile on my face, "Back in your day".  Woe betide a worker now committing that abominable spoken aggression.  An employment tribunal judge a few months ago ruled that such a statement could be unlawful.  Workplace fear seems to be commonplace for employers and employees.  Fear is the basis of all authoritarian regimes. It destroys societies but fear doesn`t begin at the point of a gun; it ends at the point of a gun.   

From my own experiences I know that many magistrates use their position to secure part time appointments to just the kind of supervisory bodies I have been fulminating against over the last few weeks. Some might be on that next step up the "great and the good" ladder insofar as they are the supervising and/or appointing authority for the supervisors.  It matters little.  Magistrates used to be individuals with minds of their own: now they are considered as unpaid employees of His Majesty`s Courts and Tribunals Service.  They might still take the judicial oath but another requirement is now required to be worthy of their place on the bench; that is groupthink. 

GUILTY OR GUILTY?

This copied blow is the relatively new hurdle for magistrates to consider if or when they appear to have stepped out of line.  It is directly copied from the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office website.

The expedited process in the Judicial Conduct Magistrates Rules 2023 enables the JCIO to advise the Lord Chancellor and the Lord Chief Justice that a magistrate should be issued with formal advice or a formal warning where—

(a) there is no dispute as to the facts set out in the complaint;

(b) the alleged facts relate to conduct which the JCIO considers that the Lord Chancellor and the Lord Chief Justice would be very likely to decide amounted to misconduct; and

(c) the JCIO considers that the Lord Chancellor and the Lord Chief Justice would be very likely to decide that formal advice or a formal warning was the appropriate disciplinary sanction.

THE IGNORED LESSON OF ARGENTINA

It seems that only after a general election gives us a new government that the MOJ has come under the spotlight of those who report our news.  It`s not as if those heading our news media didn`t know of the perilous state of our inadequate, undisciplined, undermanned police force, our failing courts system and our Victorian age crumbling prisons; of course they knew but excepting where there was an atrocious event e.g. conviction of yet another police rapist, the live sentencing of yet another multiple murderer or a sex tape of a female prison officer offering her "services" to a convict other stories had priority. 

The Tory Party used to be known as the party to be relied upon for law `n order or the party of the hangers `n floggers: not any more, indeed not for the last 14 years.  Even in the last few years before my retirement under the "leadership" of that worthy David Cameron, magistrates were "advised" to follow  many legal twists and turns to avoid sending offenders to immediate custody despite the fact that at most 4% of those convicted were sentenced in that manner. Now it is almost universally known that given no heavenly intervention England`s  prisons within the next few weeks will not be just bursting at the seams; they will have collapsed as did the walls of Jericho.  In 2021 magistrates courts` sentencing powers were increased to 12 months custody.  Last year it was announced that the custodial limit will be reduced to the previous 6 months.  This is very strange and without explanation.  The Commons Justice Committee has questioned the motivation behind this action which is reminiscent of that grand old Duke of York.  On 17th October 2023 I posted a fuller account of the push me pull me activities of the MOJ regarding the principle of magistrates courts` custodial sentencing powers.  The current save the system antidote is to release convicted prisoners way ahead of any release date they could previously have hoped for. MOJ estimates are that 40,000 inmates would benefit leaving more rat infested cells for newcomers. These measures were requested in May but our previous prime minister vetoed that initiative for what we can all now see as pre planned removal of a likely electoral millstone around his neck.  As almost a last resort it`s believed there are plans in place to cancel the outstanding custodial time remaining in theory of convicts released early on license with the result  that individuals would be unable to be recalled if they breached licensing conditions. 

If sentencing laws remain as they are now it`s estimated that there will be a need to accommodate 100,000 prisoners in 2025.  The likelihood is that once again the argument to remove all custodial sentences at magistrates courts will become irrefutable.  And once again the tail of past incompetence  and expediency will wag the dog of  a dispirited chaotic justice system.

14 years of this nation being governed by short sighted incompetent chickens is coming home to roost.  Whilst so many of us apparently who are happy to spend hard earned ££££ on cars, holidays and the  trappings of a good life refuse to contemplate paying a small fraction of their health care costs: whilst there seems to be a very contagious virus affecting the nation`s mental health individually and collectively: whilst the state continues to fund those who choose a life of  indolence and pressures mount for the new government to make it harder for incompetents in a workforce to be sacked, this once thriving country will sink deeper  into an economic and political abyss.  The lesson of the decline and decline of Argentina should be a lesson for all.  In 1913 Argentina was among the world's ten wealthiest states per capita. Beginning in the 1930s the Argentine economy deteriorated notably. 100 years later that country is still in turmoil. Its history should be a lesson to all of us but it won`t be on the Cabinet`s reading list.  If the new PM does little else he must convince us that the euphemism of tightening our belts is a reality.  I fear that like all those who reach Number 10 he will shilly shally and attempt to waltz around the root problems which are leading us from riches to rags; to penury and worse.