ON THE OUTSIDE LOOKING IN

Some of us recognise inefficiencies without their having had any personal effects on our personal lives; some don`t.  Some of us are responsible for these inefficiencies; some are not.  Some of us endeavour to put right these inefficiencies; some do not.  My biggest grouch is reserved for those who can rectify inefficiencies but choose not to do so either through indolence, disinterest or fear.  As can be noted from all the political clap-trap of late all major parties are placing the reduction or removal of inefficiencies within government in its broadest sense as a prime requirement to reduce the deficit caused by the government`s failure itself to control ineffectiveness in various financial supervisory bodies.

I could comment on the Ministry of Justice in general in this regard but not today. But I can comment on the courts` system in particular. Whether or not  these comments are typical of a general malaise I can only refer to my previous blogs on the Crown Prosecution Service where many ex colleagues and I were well aware of its being unfit for purpose  long before the official inspections proved us correct.

A few years ago a friend approached me for advice.  He had been summonsed as a witness to a neighbouring court.  I inspected the summons which stated clearly the time and date at which he was to be available at the named court.  Indeed the court was named but there was no mention of its address or telephone number.  I wrote a letter and made a couple of calls receiving an unapologetic reply that the matter would be looked into.  As is often the case my friend duly turned up to do his duty but the case was adjourned because on the morning the interpreter who had been booked did not turn up.  When, a few weeks later, my friend received another summons the court`s address and telephone number were on the summons.  I took four  points from that. How long had the previous design been in use, what individual or more likely  what committee had approved the design,  how much had it cost to re-print  and how many witnesses failed to appear as a result?

Within the Magistrates` Courts system there are many varied activities; some courts are very busy and some less so.  In a major city court building where perhaps six or more courts are sitting simultaneously  in the remand courtroom there are invariably listed more cases than can be dealt with and the excess cases will be decanted to another courtroom where for one reason or another there is spare capacity. In a small court in a suburb or in the shires where the building has not yet been closed under the Ministry`s drive for "efficiency" ie reduce costs if eg a trial does not proceed JPs can be left sitting around with nothing to do; an activity which the Ministry is not too concerned about because JPs are unpaid volunteers. But when that inactivity is due solely to CPS inefficiencies which should and could have been sorted by a ten year old child one really does despair.

For any number of reasons many Magistrates` Courts are listing trials three or four months ahead.  Justice delayed is justice stayed.  Many magistrates enjoy the experience of sitting away from their home courts perhaps to examine their own competence with new colleagues and legal advisers whose procedures might provide a learning experience and/or the need for some additional thought to what as in many skilled professional jobs can become somewhat routine activities.  Such was the case with a former colleague. A neighbouring court in the county required additional chairmen JPs to help clear a backlog of trials. She volunteered to attend. Although all parties, CPS prosecutor, defence counsel, defendant, interpreter, police witnesses for the prosecution and a witness for the defence were all in attendance the prosecutor`s case file had not reached the court  and had gone missing.  The story of this missing file is an example of such gross incompetence and lack  of interest in procedures by those concerned that I tell it here as she relayed it to me.

The file was held at local CPS office to be sent to "her" court, one of three courts in that CPS area. The Government Mail Department is responsible for the delivery of all such files. Complaints by the bench to a very senior person at the CPS elicited the information that it had been left at the CPS in a sealed envelope addressed to the court. No information on whether the procedure of collection required a signature or time stamp on some log. The courier service confirmed that all files that morning had been collected and delivered. My ex colleague enquired about procedures usually employed at the court for acceptance of such files.  She was told by a court official that the files are left in an office by the courier; they are not checked on receipt or signed for.  Her conclusion was that the missing file must have been delivered in error to another court building in the county and if all other courts operate such non procedure procedures it probably would have remained there until some curious individual looked inside.

The senior CPS person promised to provide a full written explanation in due course.  The upshot of this tale of woe is that the three magistrates who had apparently all come from their home courts for the morning sitting had nothing else to do as in that particular local small  court building there was only one other courtroom  functioning and the list was not unduly overburdensome for its bench.

Any  number of people involved could and should have been alerted to the inherent inefficiency that was in operation.  Meantime a complete CPS case file containing highly sensitive information went missing. If this weren`t a Justice of the Peace blog I`d say this waste of public time and money was criminal.........but since it is such a blog I`ll content myself as describing those involved whoever they might have been as highly culpable. 

Now I am a passive observer of and no longer an active participant in court affairs.  From observations and accounts heard and read from various sources it would appear that today  HMCTS and CPS in combination are presiding over a much more inefficient courts system than I ever experienced.  I`m very pleased to be where I am; sitting on the outside looking in.

THOUGHTFUL

News from magistrates` courts and stories about magistrates have been thin on the ground of late but two articles have caught my attention: a very interesting piece about "victims" was printed in the The National last week and Family Law Week published a very thoughtful essay by David Bedingfield, barrister. 

JUDICIAL BLINKERS

Members of the judiciary including those on the very lowest level i.e. magistrates, face the prospect of a rap across the knuckles or worse if they fall foul of what the superbeaks at the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office deem to be appropriate behaviour.  There are few who would not argue that magistrates are far more likely to be contenders for judicial castigation than their senior professional well remunerated colleagues. Indeed a cursory glance at the reasons why three J.P.s this year have been already sanctioned for what some might say are merely minor behavioural infringements adds weight to that impression of unduly robust censure for  magistrates.  

A recent Appeal Court ruling on a Deputy District Judge`s behaviour will almost certainly sustain the belief of the professional judiciary`s near immunity from public sanction except when the matter reaches and is concerned with a wider audience.  Spend a few minutes reading the Law Society Gazette report and the accompanying comments and come to your own conclusions on whether or not judicial blinkers are in use depending upon the situation. 

JUSTICE DOWN THE PAN

Anyone vaguely connected with the justice system is aware of the reduced level of service at all levels as a result of the unadmitted and shameful reduction in financial support for these services.  Indeed in 2010 when he was Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke MP, he of the REMAINER till I die persuasion, was proud to announce that he had slashed his budget by over 23% before the then Chancellor had broken the news. Now it`s official and public knowledge that Justice has taken the biggest hit of all government departments since then. What an indictment of Coalition and Tory attitude to this indispensable safeguard for our democracy and system of government. For them it was and is justice down the pan.

THE OLDEST VIRUS

I have never previously copied a complete news report of a case preferring readers to access the link if they so wished. However the issue of anti-semitism, the oldest virus, is appearing in much of the media of all kinds to an extent never experienced in my lifetime. It has even infected the upper regions of the Labour Party and publications like the New Statesman.  Anti-semitism is unlike most other forms of racism insofar as it has appeared throughout history and in areas where there has been public insecurity and dissatisfaction with the political process. England has had its fair share. In the late 12th century, members of the Jewish community in Lincoln settled in York. However, there was growing hostility towards the Jewish population in England. This was in part due to public disagreements in theology between Jewish scholars and Christian churchmen. In the mid-12th century several vicious stories were spread accusing Jews of murdering Christian children. Such slanders, now known as the ‘Blood Libel’, strengthened anti-Semitic sentiment in England and in 1190 all the Jewish population of York was trapped by a mob in Clifford`s Tower.  One of the mob’s ringleaders, Richard Malebisse, had offered safe passage to any Jews who agreed to convert and leave the tower. A few took this option, only to be murdered as soon as they came out from the burning building. Afterwards, the rioters destroyed the records of debts to the Jews, which had been placed in safe-keeping at York Minster.The triggers for the massacre were many. The calls to crusade in the Holy Land made many Christians sensitive to the presence of non-Christians in England. These feelings may have been heightened by the approaching celebrations for Easter, when the Church preached that the Jews had connived at the death of Jesus. Some rioters also saw the possibility of clearing themselves of debts to the Jews. All remaining Jews were soon after expelled. Only in 1656 Oliver Cromwell allowed Jews once again to enter England.

Anti-semitism is often described as anti-Zionism by its proponents. Nobody would deny freedom to criticise the State of Israel, its policies, its politicians or aspects of its society as would be the case with any country but all too often these critics reveal themselves  to be blatantly critical of Jews being Jews whether in Israel or anywhere. And so to the report copied below from Jewish News.

The performer Alison Chabloz, on trial this week at Westminster Magistrates’ Court over three songs alleged to be antisemitic, was repeatedly denounced as a Holocaust denier by the Crown Prosecution Service barrister Karen Robinson. But Ms Chabloz, giving lengthy evidence on her own behalf in a delayed second day in court, insisted that her songs were “satire”, that she was “an artist”, and that freedom of speech meant she was entitled to her opinions. Ms Chabloz is facing five charges of sending, or causing to be sent for viewing on social media, several videos of her playing three songs, two of which were performed in front of an audience of the London Forum in September 2016. She is said to have embedded a link to one of the performances on a WordPress page she runs, called “Tell Me More Lies,” and posted a separate performance on YouTube. But in nearly two hours of testimony, Ms Chabloz insisted that “many Jewish people find my songs funny”, and claimed that there was no “official” evidence that gas chambers had been used as a murder weapon to kill Jews during the Holocaust. Defending the lyrics of her songs, which include the description of Auschwitz as a “theme park”, Ms Chabloz referred repeatedly to “the so-called Holocaust” which she said was “a fiction” designed to facilitate “the criminal Jewish state” in Palestine. She complained about the “official narrative” of the deaths of six million Jews and deplored the practice of sending schoolchildren to visit Auschwitz, which she said was”allowing the so-called Holocaust to be used as a manipulative weapon to prevent nationalist feelings among Europeans”. It was used, she said, to “persecute Holocaust dissidents in democratic countries.” The Holocaust, she declared, was “used for Machiavellian ends”, and claimed that “there are plenty of Holocaust revisionists who are Jewish.” She described herself as a Holocaust revisionist rather than a Holocaust denier, but said that there had never been “an official investigation” into many of the claims made about what happened during the Second World War. Prosecutor Karen Robinson asked the defendant over and over again to explain the lyrics of her songs, which she said had been deliberately set to well-known Jewish melodies such as Hava Nagila in order to cause maximum offence. But Ms Chabloz denied this, and said she had no hostility to Jewish people. She had the right to express her views, she said, and disagreed vehemently with Ms Robinson who said that such views as expressed in the disputed songs were “racist”. “Some may say that”, Ms Chabloz said, smiling broadly. She said that her very presence in court was “proof” of an external control of the media, society, the banks and even the justice system. There were “a disproportionate number of Jews in the media, the Houses of Parliament”. And, she added: “I strongly disagree that [my lyrics are] racist. The love of a people for its country is not racist and could equally be applied to Israel and Jews”. No-one, she said, was forced to listen to her songs and she did not accept that they were grossly offensive, instead insisting that they were “funny” and that those who were offended “were offended at being laughed at”. Ms Chabloz said her attacks were aimed at “Zionist Jews” and that “Orthodox Jews don’t want a state of Israel”. When Ms Robinson said that her songs “targeted Jews because they are Jews”, the defendant responded: “There are plenty of Jews who find my songs funny”. One of the three contested songs, (((Survivors))), using the “echo” brackets said to identify Jews on line, focuses on the experiences of three survivors, Irene Zysblat, Elie Wiesel and Anne Frank. Ms Chabloz said stories of all three had been debunked, and that she had chosen to write about them “because their tales are dubious”. A written submission to the court was provided by Ms Chabloz’s friend Peter Rushton, described as a writer, who had researched documents in the British Library designed to support the defendant’s assertions. Among the books he cited on her behalf, it was said, had been Norman Finkelstein’s controversial book “The Holocaust Industry”. District Judge John Zani said he would take written and final oral submissions from Ms Robinson and Ms Chabloz’s defending barrister, Adrian Davies, before announcing a verdict on May 25.

FURTHER PROOF OF GRAYLING`S INCOMPETENCE

The arrogance and incompetence of former Lord Chancellor the unlamented Chris Grayling set in motion the destruction of the probation service.  Further proof of his and previous incumbents of his post`s mishandling of their duties can be seen from the reducing numbers of breaches of ASBOs and laterally CRASBOs.  

With the demise of ASBO and replacement with CRASBO the latest current numbers combined, 6248, compare very poorly with 13,659 ten years ago. This is a direct result of reducing resources and efficiencies of the probation services now carried out mainly by outsourcing companies.  The parliamentary answer from which this table has been copied is available here. 

OUR BODY POLITIC REQUIRES LEECHES.

Sentencing Guidelines were introduced during my days on the bench.  Initially they appeared to codify in relatively simple terms a ladder in which any bench could logically come to a sentence ranging from a fine to custody and repeat the exercise on most occasions irrespective of post code or composition of any bench in England or Wales. My well trained colleagues on my own bench had been following similar procedures for years using straightforward common sense and structured reasoning.  The latest offspring of those first Guidelines has recently been published: The Equal Treatment Bench Book, 422 pages of dos and don`ts for the judiciary.  How on earth do the civil servants at the MOJ think that those for whom it has been deemed necessary will react to being schooled like primary age children.  This is the society we have become.  We cannot walk, talk, tweet, write, flirt, discuss, remark or observe without fear of breaching somebody`s psychological, physiological, sociological, anatomical, rational or irrational, real or imaginary mental or physical boundary.  No wonder students are being accused of being snowflakes unable to host debates with speakers who voice differing opinions from their own self satisfying smug ignorant and ill formed views of the world and how they want to see it. Our very own legislators of all parties have themselves to blame for this insidious poison seeping into the veins of the world politic.  Who has the will to apply the leeches and the necessary transfusion of common sense and reality to our national being?

DISQUALIFICATION FOR THE MANY NOT THE FEW

I have observed over the months from skimming court reports that there are lay benches who are all too easily suckered into granting a plea of exceptional hardship to those with ample assets and/or income defended by sparky efficient advocates.  It is therefore refreshing to read of a wealthy high earning businessman failing in his efforts to avoid disqualification as a totter. Long might such examples continue: just deserts for the many not the few.

VIDEO COURTS;TAKE IT OR TAKE IT

The Ministry of Justice and its offspring Her Majesty`s Court and Tribunal Service are trying to convince legal practitioners, judges, and to a lesser extent magistrates and the public that the way forward in improving justice and courts` efficiency is not to have any courts and to "simplify" the basic concept of justice.  O.K..........That might be thought by some to be too Kafkaesque a description but certainly the disposal of hundreds of court buildings, the reduction and near elimination of legal aid in the lower court, the outsourcing of many court related functions,  the instigation of single J.P. jurisdiction for so called minor mass offending and perhaps most controversially of all the increasing use of video courts leads some way to a justification for the opinion.  When I was active video courts were being used in bail hearings.  Apart from prison officials not co-operating in a sensible fashion much of the time the actual operation was simple and certainly not unfair to the person on remand who of course always had a lawyer in court to safeguard the process.  But the idea of wholesale justice by video link is a wholly different ball game especially in crown court.  The old adage of the accused facing his/her  accuser is being disregarded in the face of what we are told is efficiency.  For "efficiency" read economy.  The MOJ is overloaded with a huge expense in so called consultants [£30 million] and a gargantuan press office  the numbers within being apparently unavailable to Mr Google although I seem to remember in a long forgotten post I finally discovered that there were well in excess of 60 people employed. Judging by the diarrhoea like output of the MOJ I have no reason to think they have reduced the spending of that part of the ministry. Economy seems, for the MOJ, to be in the eye of the beholder. However doing some simple research into the manner in which HMCTS records or doesn`t record aspects of its functions the following parliamentary question and answer provides an interesting summing up of this process of video courts.  At least one crown court judge has spoken out.  Would that more did.

Ministry of Justice

Courts: Video Conferencing

120987

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of people who have appeared in court for their (a) first appearance, (b) remand hearing, (c) bail hearing, (d) case management and (e) sentencing have done so by video link in the last 12 months.

A

Answered by: Dominic Raab

Answered on: 08 January 2018

Information is not collected centrally on the proportion of court appearances by video link irrespective of the reason for the court appearance.

Information collected centrally in respect of hearings is published quarterly on:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-court-statistics-quarterly-january-to-march-2017

Today the following has been published:-

Lucy Frazer The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice

Between 1 June 2012 and 30 September 2017 HMCTS recorded 372,941 defendants appearing via video link from prison (181,688 in Crown Courts and 191,253 in Magistrates’ Courts) and 48,024 via video link from police stations into Magistrates Courts. The information on a breakdown of the demographics of the defendants involved can only be available at a disproportionate cost.

SEX, AGE AND DIVERSITY

All you need to know about magistrates` ages, diversity and sex.

THE DEA(R)TH OF COMMON SENSE

Amongst the qualities required for appointment as a magistrate when I applied was common sense. Those two words were actually written in the application form. That quality is not indicated at all in the current application form or notes which include the following:-

Personal qualities

You need to show you’ve got the right personal qualities, for example that you are:

• aware of social issues
• mature, understand people and have a sense of fairness
• reliable and committed to serving the community

You also need to be able to:

• understand documents, follow evidence and communicate effectively
• think logically, weigh up arguments and reach a fair decision

When I made an official inquiry many years ago as to why this personal quality was omitted I was told that what might be "common" to some people might not be common to others who were immigrants or unfamiliar with the mores of this country and would therefore be at a disadvantage.  British citizenship is not a requirement to sit as a J.P.; a rule with which I profoundly disagree. 

"Common"...........usual, ordinary, customary, habitual, familiar, regular, frequent, repeated, recurrent, routine, everyday, daily, day-to-day, quotidian, standard, typical

It seems, however, that the good J.P. folk of Dorset don`t know their own rules. Rachel Small , a recently appointed magistrate interviewed by the Daily Echo with regard to magistrate recruitment, is quoted as saying inter alia, "They can come from all backgrounds, but must have "common sense and personal integrity".  Her full interview is available here. 

From my years on the bench and nine years of seeking out various goings on at magistrates` courts for this blog the lack of common sense amongst recently appointed benches  in recent years seems to be a logical conclusion for some strange or very unusual decisions. 

The magistracy is far from being the only organisation where common sense is noted for its absence. I don`t know the qualities essential to being an Inspector in Surrey Constabulary but a brief reading of the case of an officer cleared of a misconduct charge of stealing colleagues` biscuits  leads me to think that perhaps some training in such is called for there. 

BLACK HATTED POLICE CHIEF

According to the folklore of Hollywood and of Western  movies prior to the mid fifties native Americans often described the black hatted white villain as speaking with forked tongue and of course the reference was to snakes.  Today we would describe the activity as saying one thing and acting in a totally opposite fashion i.e. being an out and out liar.  Now to accuse a Chief Constable who is head of professional standards for the National Police Chiefs Council of terminological inexactitude might perhaps be going a little too far but contrast two statements in the public domain made by this man.  On the website of the NPCC amongst other things the above mentioned Chief Constable Martin Jelley wrote in 2016, 

"We will not tolerate corrupt officers or staff and it is vital that we respond swiftly and robustly to incidences of sexual misconduct.
“After reviews by Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) and Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) in 2012, police chiefs committed to doing more to root out abusers from the service. Since then, police leaders have emphasised that this behaviour has no place in policing, made changes to vetting and supervision processes, and encouraged reporting - the majority of force investigations into abuse of powers are started in response to concerns raised by officers and staff."


In a recent  issue of Police Oracle behind a pay wall there is a front page report:-


Misconduct system 'too focused on punishment' says national lead. CC Martin Jelley. Head of professional standards for NPCC calls for 'revolution' in attitudes. Date - 15th February 2018. By - Ian Weinfass - Police Oracle. The police misconduct system must become more focused on learning and improvement and less on punishment.

Perhaps I am being pedantic but my simple understanding is that these two statements appear on the surface at least to be just a little contradictory.  Of course the first is specific and the other is a generality but my opinion is that this very senior officer is wearing that black hat beloved of early directors of the Western genre of movie making. 

THE NOT SO SIMPLE SACKING OF RICHARD PAGE EX J.P.

Ex magistrate Richard Page is continuing his protest at being sacked from office by suing the Lord Chancellor and the Lord Chief Justice.  This is a very interesting and important case because the outcome will be significant to all who hold what some would describe as intolerant religious beliefs. It is not unlikely that the many Muslim magistrates who statistically would hold similar beliefs are watching closely. A brief perusal of a much more detailed post of 18th March 2016 predicting such a development might assist some in understanding the origin of this situation.

BEING FREE TO OFFEND

Being free to offend is a fundamental right for a democratic society in order for that society to continue being democratic. Until recently the law in this country was the antithesis to that concept. 1st February 2014 saw the end to s.5 (1) Public Order Act thus decriminalising insulting words or behaviour in the hearing or sight of someone likely to be caused harassment, alarm or distress. For "distress" read offend and many who would stifle debate have emerged as latter day Mary Whitehouses seeking to show that current fears of internet trolls are a direct result of such freedom. There is a coherent argument that the enormous increase in anti semitism disguised as anti Zionism can be attributed to that change in the law.  Nevertheless we are all better off  by facing down such arguments than prosecuting them.  I am a collector of political cartoons and for me an interesting example on this subject occurred recently in New Zealand. The original source document should be compulsory reading for all who have an opinion one way or another on whether there should be prohibition of what some would describe as offensive material and the right to publish such.

JUST ANOTHER COURT SITTING

Freemen of England: regular practitioners in the magistrates` courts will have enjoyed the appearance and ravings of those who have refused to recognise the court`s authority citing that they were members of a group as per the title at the beginning of this post.  I dealt with a few in my time. I particularly recollect a male about 50 years old who was dressed as if about to appear in a pantomime as Toad of Toad Hall. After being sent to the cells for an hour for contempt his manner on his re-appearance in the dock was just a little subdued and his bravado gave way to humble acceptance of his fate. Suffolk magistrates appear to have been a little less robust than I when dealing with a defendant who challenged the prosecution to trial by combat.  So much for CJSSS. 

Perhaps I have harped on rather a lot about the advantage of bringing back the workhouse updated for today`s offenders.  Yet every day in every court there is a poor misbegotten soul who demonstrates that the court process is for him/her a complete waste of time and money. Here`s today`s example from the court in Durham.

SECRECY AT MAGISTRATES` COURTS

Even those who had no knowledge or interest in the Parole Board a month ago will surely have learnt something new to their advantage.  Another veil on the face of the justice system has been allowed to drop revealing that since its inception this body of the "great and the good" has been more secretive than the Masons when it comes to public scrutiny although I was pleased to note yesterday that the latter is baring its chest to allow public view of its innards. The courts too are on the same ladder to allow public scrutiny to some limited extent. Scotland has allowed cameras in court although not "live" as in America.  The Supreme Court has gone further with its proceedings indeed "live".  The internal workings of a jury are still sacrosanct although IMHO it is long overdue that all aspects of that system from eligibility (jurors currently do not need to be British citizens or be examined in their comprehension of English language) to composition; it is nonsense that a jury comprises an even and not an odd number of members.  But the deliberations by magistrates in the retiring room are not so open to scrutiny.  When I was appointed there was no requirement for the chairman to explain how the bench reached its decision.  Many did give a brief summary but it was only when it was decreed that its reasons had to be made public and recorded in the court files that attention was paid by chairmen to the views of his/her colleagues and "I feel he`s guilty" remarks were rightly criticised and replaced by reasoned logical debate.  There is, however, a very large gap in the openness as we have it today: nobody outside the retiring room knows whether the bench reached a unanimous or majority decision. I have been of the opinion for many years that this is a situation which fails the "openness" test. Juries under direction can reach a publicly stated majority of 10:2. If convicted defendants in the lower court were aware that it was a 2:1 guilty verdict then they might feel it worthwhile appealing the verdict and/or the punishment. Indeed there is an argument, however tenuous, that such a verdict should allow an automatic appeal at crown court for those who wished and/or could afford to pursue the matter. 

Recently Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd the former Lord Chief Justice has been reported as saying, "The answer to most of these problems (referring to openness of Parole Board) is open justice."  Surely a similar argument, discounting expense or politics, applies to magistrates` courts?

MISCONDUCT OF SENIOR POLICE OFFICERS

Police misconduct is rarely out of the news these days. Whether that`s because of more reports being available to the public or more actual misconduct is difficult to tell.  One thing is for sure and that is the enormous increase in the numbers of senior officers involved. Two years ago I commented at length on the situation.  We now know the scandal of the lies and cover up by those at the top of South Yorkshire Police at and following the Hillborough tragedy. Only today it has been reported that the senior detective who conducted interviews with "Nick" the informer in the Edward Heath paedophile case, Diane Tudway has been promoted to superintendent whilst she is under investigation for allegedly misleading a judge into granting search warrants to raid suspects` homes.  She is of course currently not guilty of the charge but it is disgraceful that with such a matter unconcluded she is given a promotion to such a senior rank.  Yesterday Police Scotland`s Chief Constable resigned under a cloud.  A couple of weeks ago the Deputy Chief Constable of Essex Constabulary Matthew Horne was found guilty of three counts of misconduct. At the end of last year the fourth most senior officer in Derbyshire Constabulary was suspended. Today the Chief Constable of Cheshire Constabulary was suspended pending a misconduct tribunal in April.  In September  Naveed Malik, assistant chief constable (ACC) at Cambridgeshire police admitted gross misconduct.  Former Wiltshire Chief Constable, involved in the "Nick" affair, and newly appointed as Cleveland Police’s new Chief Constable this week is being investigated for alleged misconduct. Very senior officers in the Police Service of Northern Ireland are currently under investigation. 

These cases are from the last few months.  There have been many others of a similar nature historically but they are not available in a statistical form because the Home Office keeps the numbers of senior police officer misconduct cases under wraps; so much for freedom of information. There are numbers for the plods up to rank of Inspector but no more. The College of Policing can publish a 95 page report but statistics of those of high rank involved in misconduct.......NO!

This is a matter of great public concern or should be.  Already trust in the criminal justice system with regard to the courts` process for defendants is disturbing owing to actual failings within the Crown Prosecution Service and the lack of legal aid for a majority of defendants in the magistrates` courts. Police are at the coal face of that system and in an increasingly authoritarian and "safe space" society it is paramount that they are led by people of integrity.  It will be the misfortune for us all if standards are not raised for those paid small fortunes to do that job.  However the omens are not good.  The Home Office is unfit for purpose in this and in so many other aspects of its portfolio. 

BRITISH JUSTICE TODAY

Jails are at bursting point, probation service is overwhelmed and undermanned, police are turning blind eyes to "minor" criminality, CPS is failing in its prime duties, Justice Secretaries are playing musical chairs and the Parole Board must ask serial rapist if he consents to wearing an electronic tab were he to be released on license. I rest my case.

THE CPS SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME

Two weeks ago I posted on the news that the Crown Prosecution Service was publishing its own court reports.  It seems that this is merely the beginning of a campaign by said organisation to control the news.  The finding of gross failures  in its procedures that have caused outrage in legal circles notwithstanding the personal traumas inflicted on innocent parties must have inspired its discredited DPP to accelerate the program.  With the decline in local court reporting by local media it is not unlikely that a case spun by the weasels of the CPS press office will be at best a PR moment or at worst a sign of government managed news eclipsing other sources.  Where has been the comment  of libertarians and those who value a truly free press? Justice is being assailed from many quarters.  The new CPS beta version website might not be PRAVDA but it is an unwelcome sign of things to come.

GIVING "ADVICE" TO ERRANT JUDGES

So far this year the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office has issued various pieces of "advice" to three magistrates. These "investigations" in general are very often directed against those who do not perform the required number of sittings (perhaps c40% of total) or those whose behaviour or speech is considered inappropriate.  For obvious reasons where matters of sentencing by magistrates are concerned the appeal system at crown court prevails. But what happens when a judge`s sentencing decision is so out of kilter with accepted norms i.e. Sentencing Guidelines that the Appeal Court doubles the previous sentence?  My understanding is that such cases would be dealt with "informally".  This seems to fly in the face of procedures of a similar if different significance with other professions.  

In the current climate of mistrust and/or failing confidence in government in general, experts in particular and our criminal justice system above all such "in house" secretive "advice" to the bewigged should be in the public domain and the longer the wig the louder the sanction. 

HENRY VIII AND ROTTEN TOMATOES FOR THE MANY NOT THE FEW

"From today (29 January), 9 further terror-related offences will fall within the scheme which allows the public to challenge sentences handed out by the courts."

That sentence is the headline of a press release from the MOJ. Not satisfied with putting obligations to report those suspected of connection with terrorism upon landlords, estate agents, bankers, lawyers and uncle Tom Cobley the spiders at the centre of the Petty France web are seeking to have public opinion increase sentences on those convicted of terror related offences. Not satisfied with offering the judiciary so called sentencing guidelines about which the public has quite rightly no particular interest or knowledge, this government and the Ministry of so called Justice the senior incumbents of the latter being moved in and out like players in a game of musical chairs, seem only to be interested in a week`s favourable headlines.  There is absolutely no logic to this and similar actions. In the release we are informed that, "141 criminals had their sentences increased, helping victims and their families get justice. This is a small proportion of the 80,000 Crown Court cases heard each year, where in the clear majority the judiciary get it right". So because 0.18% of cases are appealed by the Attorney General a whole new avenue of legal activity is opened. If there were true philosophy in this regard it is not unlikely that there would be at the very least a substantial minority of opinion which would welcome the opportunity to reinstate the death penalty for particularly heinous murders multiple murder in the cause of terrorism being a certain candidate. Allowing public opinion to manipulate judicial decision making is no more than seeking favourable headlines from a government which has no sense of purpose and is merely looking for daily uplifts to its polling position. It began with the positioning of the "victim" to a quasi judicial role and has progressed from there.  There is no doubt that the judiciary will be undermined by this development although of course all will remain silent until they are pensioned off. Let us therefore bring back pillory and the stocks and a plentiful supply of rotten tomatoes.  At least that would be an honest expression of letting the public have what government thinks it wants. 

I am no hanger and flogger but neither am I a soft hearted believer in abolishing short sentences or for society to turn the other cheek. But I do believe that for justice to prevail there are many actions that government should take in particular with regard to legal aid and the belief that a digital image can substitute for reality.  I am however just bleating in the wind.  The authoritarianism seeping into our daily lives will only be appreciated when Cobynista Marxists rule over us and Henry VIII powers are in the hands of those who would wield them for the many not the few to our eternal cost.

WEALTH BUYS INJUSTICE

From time to time in any profession where procedures are often discretionary a ruling body or professional society will issue guidance about preferred methodology or similar such instructions. In the case of motoring offences where there is a choice of adding points to the offender`s license or imposing a disqualification, however short, advice given to me and my colleagues was to impose the requisite number of points to reflect the seriousness of the offence(s).  It seems magistrates at Norwich have not had the benefit of similar advice or were too weak to follow the unwritten guideline when they banned a wealthy businessman for a month instead of imposing 6 points on his license which as a totter would have led to a disqualification for 6 months. 

Once again justice has not been seen to be done and wealth buys injustice. It is another example of a bench being brought into disrepute by those who can afford high quality advocacy to mesmerise an ineffectual bench.   

NOT A BRITISH GULAG

Every interested party bar none voices the opinion that our prisons are overcrowded.  There are those who would abolish custodial sentences being available to magistrates` courts.  There are others who would retain custody for offences only involving violence and no others.  There will be other combinations I`m sure with a similar end result in mind.  There is, however, one feature of criminality that is unchallengeable; around 70% of crime is associated in one way or another with alcohol and/or drug abuse.  No amount of tinkering at the edges of this problem will solve it.  There must be a radical change in thinking by government, NHS and all those involved in whatever capacity.  Offending addicts must be removed from the court system and installed in a half way system in conjunction with the NHS where compulsory incarceration and treatment is available.  Those who show quick response could be released before those who reject or fail to respond to treatment adequately.  To those who liken such a proposal to a British gulag I would answer that current practice is proving ineffective and costly and a case like this is just a single example of the thousands that the courts process annually.  But as with so much that needs parliamentary attention,  with an incompetent, ineffective prime minister leading a minority government it could be decades before this aspect of our justice system receives the priority it should.

CPS PRODUCES ITS OWN COURT REPORTS

I have in the past commented on the lack of or poor quality of court reporting in local media although of late there have been some reports along the lines of "A day in the life of a magistrates` court". A year ago I posted on HMCTS producing its own court reports from West Sussex Magistrates` Courts.  It seems that now the Crown Prosecution Service is trying to alter its public persona by publishing its own reports of court proceedings.  I find this a disturbing development.  It seems that by doing this it is attempting to nudge its public image in a direction of its choosing owing to the fact that it is extremely likely that only cases which suit its objectives will be published. Nobody can doubt that the CPS has been subject to adverse criticism recently with its chief officer taking some flak from media and this blogger and others. However this is a sinister approach to improving its performance and I would hope that many in the justice system will indicate their disapproval. 

MORE COURT CLOSURES/MORE GOVT. LIES

This government`s determination to close more magistrates` courts continues.  The belief in Whitehall that video courts can deliver equal justice for all and reduce costs has become as much as a totem for the MOJ as a free at point of use NHS has become for the Health Department. Outside metropolitan areas in particular the MOJ is still providing vastly inaccurate figures for travel times on public transport for those who will be required to spend up to two hours in making their way to a courtroom for a 9.30am start including time for consultation with lawyer. 

To quote from the Northern Echo; " The Ministry of Justice is proposing to close Northallerton Magistrates Court – but its analysis states it is quicker for some people living near the town to reach Middlesbrough.The proposal to close Northallerton Magistrates Court involves transferring its work between magistrates courts at York, Harrogate, Skipton and Middlesbrough.It is currently running a consultation over the proposal.But a table which compares estimated travel times from local towns which currently use the court, appears to show it takes people one hour and 48 minutes to travel the 19 miles from Richmond to Northallerton. It also estimates it takes just under three hours by public transport, at two hours 52 minutes."

 The report continues; "Justice Minister Lucy Frazer said: “This government is investing over £1billion to reform and modernise the justice system – making it more convenient, easier to use, and providing better value for the taxpayer.
“As we increase the use of digital services, it makes sense to consider the wider role and need for Court buildings and assess whether some are still necessary to provide effective access to justice.
"Where physical courts are to close, every penny raised will be put back into funding changes which will make justice easier to access for all at the same time as offering protections for the most vulnerable.” 

Let me overlook the misuse of the word "investing". The correct term is "spending". "More convenient and easier to use"; that is nothing short of a lie.  The sale of court buildings, often at giveaway prices, is what is funding the so called digital revolution in our courts. Video courts are valuable under defined limited circumstances eg when prisoners have to appear in court. Video representation for them, usually with a lawyer in court overseeing the situation, is an efficient way to to proceed when resources are limited but for Joe Blogs encouraged at every stage to plead guilty to appear on a screen to answer a charge will lead to injustices to numerous to be collated. This is a one way development to remove citizens` rights.  It is to be deplored. 

MORE ON EXCEPTIONAL HARDSHIP

“The reasons for exceptional hardship are proven because you will lose your employment and a roof over your head.” This is an extract from a statement made recently by a bench chairman at Manchester Magistrates` Court. Last week I posted on exceptional hardship.  Unfortunately for motoring law and the principle of deterrence as exemplified by the totting legislation of "12 points means disqualification", the law IMHO has failed in this example. The Magistrates Association has published guidance on this matter; para 4) v is of particular interest.  A newsworthy appeal against exceptional hardship being rejected was heard in Glasgow in 2012.  The website Counsel Direct has valuable opinion on the subject. 

Exceptional hardship cases are heard almost daily in many courts nationwide.  At no time during my tenure was any official guidance given. Indeed my own notes were welcomed by many colleagues to assist them in their finding their way through sometimes lengthy appeals by advocates for the offenders. It is about time that magistrates understood all the factors which should be considered in such cases. 

CRUISE CONTROL WITH A DIFFERENCE

Car enthusiasts........now there`s a term that the green lobby would have bracketed in a similar group to litter louts or football hooligans.  I`m not at all ashamed to admit that a couple of decades ago I bought a bright red Triumph TR6 convertible; a classic British sportscar with an engine so simple to fiddle with that I with two left hands even managed to change injectors.  Belonging to the TR Club occasionally I joined with fellow enthusiasts to drive in convoy along some narrow country roads to an olde English pub where half a pint of cider was made to last a couple of hours whilst oily knowledge and experience was exchanged between geeks, anoraks or call us what you will. In fact there are dozens if not hundreds of similar groups and clubs nationwide doing exactly the same.

It seems that such activity has been banned in what is termed the Black Country for quite some time.  According to Halesowen News " A High Court decision to extend a ground-breaking injunction banning car cruising in the Black Country for a further three years has been welcomed".Apparently this prohibition includes "driving in convoy". 

I wonder if opposition from car club members has been voiced. When police nationwide are forever excusing their failures to protect people or property to have such additional tasks forced upon them seems nonsense.  But of course there`s another point of view: give police a choice between undertaking old fashioned police duties such as preventing disorder or an easy collar..............you see where I`m going so I`ll put on the handbrake now.

EXCEPTIONAL HARDSHIP:APPLYING GOOD JUDGEMENT AND DISCRIMINATION

Exceptional hardship is a subject that can arouse deep differences within a bench during retiring room deliberations.Indeed it has been the subject of a few posts here over the last few years. Four years ago there was this one and in June the following year I posted this. 

Generally my opinion has been that those offenders who moan the most, namely professional drivers, are deserving of the least sympathy followed by obviously wealthy individuals who could easily afford to hire a driver for six months.  However the finding of exceptional hardship is one of those remaining considerations which are entirely within the bench`s discretion.  Where some difficulty might arise in the decision making is when the offender has proven worth to the community and/or perhaps a history of good deeds or valour in the case of active or former servicemen.  There is certainly a fine line to be drawn when eg a hospital doctor applies for exceptional hardship purely on the basis of his/her occupation and a carpet fitter.  

A case earlier this week at Flintshire Magistrates` Court is a perfect example of a bench coming to what I agree was the correct decision in allowing the application to succeed.  This offender`s recent history certainly was a sound basis for allowing him to continue driving.  The problem is that I read too many reports and have experience of situations where sympathy by a bench overrides good judgement and discrimination. 

WHEN A JUDGE SWEARS

On 12th August 2016 I commented on the judge who threw verbal caution to the wind and swore back at an offender who had used his basic knowledge of olde English to vent his feelings at her.  Not surprisingly the matter reached the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office which yesterday cleared her of misconduct.  Truth be told I`m a little surprised but not disappointed. Like the rest of us judges are human and have fallibilities. What did enter my mind was the recollection of apparently heavy treatment dished out to Justices of the Peace for a lot less. I suppose some are still more equal than others.

NO NONSENSE AT LIVERPOOL CROWN COURT IN 2017

All too often blogger and public reaction to crown court sentencing is less than enthusiastic.  In an interesting and sometimes amusing report in the Liverpool Echo sentencing comments from the city`s crown court judges in 2017 are worth a few minutes reading time IMHO of course. Access the page here.