The issues of anything to do with magistrates are usually not headline making nor worthy of headline making........until recently. No judicial voices were heard in the last decade crying out against the two thirds reduction in the numbers of magistrates from 2010 a reduction that was entirely predictable considering the age profile of those in 2010 and a government policy of non recruitment thereafter. Now there is a headlong drive by the Ministry of Justice to enlist no less than 4,000 new magistrates to join the current cohort of twelve and a half thousand. One doesn`t need to be a Nostradamus to appreciate that within a year or less a quarter of those on the bench will be novices. One unmentioned result of this inexperienced influx will be that legal advisors will hold sway to an unhealthy level of magistrates` decision making. The ability of benches to take an independent view of a situation will be funnelled into the mindset of paid civil servants who should have no business except that of ensuring that benches` processes fall within the law. Their opinions on fact are outwith their raison d`etre. Their opinions on sentencing should be confined to overseeing that a bench follows the lawful structure contained in Sentencing Guidelines. From my own experiences there is certainly a number of advisors in every court who exceed those boundaries. It takes a strong minded presiding justice to impose the will of a bench when a legal advisor has a mind of his/her own to impose an alternative view. With 4,000 newbies it is a certainty that the diminished number of old hands on a bench will face increasing pressure from their novice colleagues not to oppose legal advisors when opposition is exactly what is and will be needed from time to time in the future as it always has been in the past. One overlooked fact is certain: professional district judges are not selected on the basis of being representatives of their area although they preside alone over about a quarter of cases. So there are and have been two forms of magistrates courts; a supposed court of "representatives" and another of a government paid professional judge selected only for his/her abilities to do the job. The propagating of "diversity" in the magistracy is a distraction.
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Tuesday, 3 May 2022
CROWN COURT BACKLOG/MAGISTRATE SHORTAGE// GOVERNMENT SELF CREATED PROBLEMS
The issues of anything to do with magistrates are usually not headline making nor worthy of headline making........until recently. No judicial voices were heard in the last decade crying out against the two thirds reduction in the numbers of magistrates from 2010 a reduction that was entirely predictable considering the age profile of those in 2010 and a government policy of non recruitment thereafter. Now there is a headlong drive by the Ministry of Justice to enlist no less than 4,000 new magistrates to join the current cohort of twelve and a half thousand. One doesn`t need to be a Nostradamus to appreciate that within a year or less a quarter of those on the bench will be novices. One unmentioned result of this inexperienced influx will be that legal advisors will hold sway to an unhealthy level of magistrates` decision making. The ability of benches to take an independent view of a situation will be funnelled into the mindset of paid civil servants who should have no business except that of ensuring that benches` processes fall within the law. Their opinions on fact are outwith their raison d`etre. Their opinions on sentencing should be confined to overseeing that a bench follows the lawful structure contained in Sentencing Guidelines. From my own experiences there is certainly a number of advisors in every court who exceed those boundaries. It takes a strong minded presiding justice to impose the will of a bench when a legal advisor has a mind of his/her own to impose an alternative view. With 4,000 newbies it is a certainty that the diminished number of old hands on a bench will face increasing pressure from their novice colleagues not to oppose legal advisors when opposition is exactly what is and will be needed from time to time in the future as it always has been in the past. One overlooked fact is certain: professional district judges are not selected on the basis of being representatives of their area although they preside alone over about a quarter of cases. So there are and have been two forms of magistrates courts; a supposed court of "representatives" and another of a government paid professional judge selected only for his/her abilities to do the job. The propagating of "diversity" in the magistracy is a distraction.
Tuesday, 19 April 2022
THE CHOICE IS BINARY
Tuesday, 12 April 2022
LOCAL COUNCILS ENCOURAGE FLY TIPPING
According to the government whether we like it or not restrictions imposed over the last two years to minimise the transmission of Covid 19 have been lifted. We can all go about our business as we wish taking any precautions we deem helpful (if any at all) and trusting in our own common sense and vaccinations. Sounds simple but there are some areas of our lives where Covid restrictions have been used to make more inroads into the way we live.
Wednesday, 6 April 2022
OYEZ, OYEZ, OYEZ
There are millions of court cases annually in this country; a very small number is reported in the national and/or local media and an even smaller number is commented upon in legal publications. It is therefore hardly surprising that the great British public apart from the third of adult males who have a criminal record has little idea of what constitutes justice.
Tuesday, 29 March 2022
A ZOMBIE NATION STATE
Sometimes I ask myself what exactly is a legal system; is it a series of laws? are these laws built from the bottom up (of society) or the top down (of government)? Are they meant to lead us or to follow us? Many thinkers more able than I have written millions of words on similar topics. However we are where we are. It is in the apparent anomalies of the application or otherwise of our laws where lie more questions than answers.
Tuesday, 22 March 2022
UKRAINE SHOWS BRITAIN HAS NO DIRECTION
There comes a time when a retrospective of every nation will show a fundamental change in society, government and other bellwethers. Historians will offer their own analyses a generation or two subsequently but these observations are of use only as signposts for the future; unfortunately for many reasons they are just an exercise for the authors. The true indicators of how we conduct ourselves as a nation and where that conduct is leading us are often shrouded in an etymological fog. Perhaps the most famous seer through that fog was a master of etymology; Winston Churchill who, for all his faults, realised the folly of British foreign policy in the 1930s. In our own time perhaps the most (in)famous speech on society was by Enoch Powell in 1968. He was Member of Parliament (1950–1974), then Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) MP (1974–1987), and was Minister of Health (1960–1963). His speech was undoubtedly racist but his target was misplaced: god fearing black immigrants from British Caribbean colonies have been a blessing to us all. What he was unable to predict was the mass inflow of Pakistanis whose societal origins were firmly fixed in the middle ages where what we now term Islamism was a way of life. Their co-religionists expelled from East Africa who arrived here in 1972 and later and who have given so much benefit to Britain and the British are equally disturbed by what is now a 3 million minority rapidly expanding to such an extent that far Left political trouble makers are in thrall to their demands.
This lady doesn`t realise the contradiction in what she says. She wants younger people (minimum age of magistrate is 18) with loads of experience.
She continues "“Most of us sadly will have either experienced crime or have known someone who has been a victim" . Really? On what authority is she making that statement? Does this opinion not affect her attitude on the bench?
"We do see the worst of society but we do see the best too because we get people who come back and say thank you because they’ve been offered the help to turn their life around". [my bold] Magistrates are not social workers or probation officers. Magistrates are there to apply the law, to determine guilt and if so determined to administer retribution according to law and guidelines.
"The Lord Chief Justice has, with the Lord Chancellor’s agreement, issued His Honour Judge Keith Raynor with formal advice for misconduct. In September 2020, Judge Raynor emailed several people, including a journalist, to allege that he had been subjected to improper pressure by his senior judge over his handling of applications to extend Custody Time Limits. A thorough investigation found no evidence to support this allegation. In deciding on an appropriate sanction, the Lord Chancellor and Lord Chief Justice took into account Judge Raynor’s long and previously unblemished conduct record."
Although a JP would not be in such a position if that member of the judiciary were a magistrate he would have been sacked for anything approaching a similar action.
"The Lord Chief Justice, with the Lord Chancellor’s agreement, has issued Deputy District Judge Christopher McMurtrie with a formal warning for misconduct. Judge McMurtrie conducted a hearing in his car, partly while driving and using his phone in hands-free mode. The judge failed to meet the expectation to avoid conduct which might reduce respect for judicial office. In reaching their decision, they took into consideration that Judge McMurtrie accepted that his decision to proceed with the hearing, after he had to travel unexpectedly for personal reasons, was misguided and he gave assurances as to his future conduct."
Tuesday, 15 March 2022
THE INDEPENDENT MAGISTRACY IS A HISTORIC JOKE
"A day in the life: Magistrates reveal what it's like to work in North East courts". That is the headline in the current edition of "Chronicle Live"; an on line news medium in the North East of England. The Ministry of Justice is spending one million pounds over the next few months to seek out and appoint 4,000 new members to the magistracy. Of course those wise folk in Petty France are loath to concede that they are the very same folk who have been sitting around since 2010 at the very same desks whilst they looked on benignly as their political Tory bosses emasculated the magistracy by failing to appoint a thousand new JPs annually to back fill the age related rapid decline in numbers taking place in front of them. It seems that there are few news outlets not unhappy about an unexpected source of additional income.
Friday, 11 March 2022
767 LAYABOUT LORDS
The House of Commons is arguably overloaded with MPs. Such a statement will have many antagonists who might just have a case to answer. However there is no doubt that the House of Lords is an anachronism where in the main almost 900 self satisfied has beens are paid £323 to turn up, sign the register and f*** off to their favourite drinking haunts. From time to time they might waste £410 of our tax money to ask pointless questions in their chamber. It doesn`t occurr to many that perhaps five minutes or less with Mr Google or reference to the appropriate Lords library will elicit their required information which is generally already in the public domain.
The recruitment of more magistrates is the Government’s top priority for the magistracy. The MoJ is investing £1 million this financial year into a programme of work to improve magistrates’ recruitment. A digitised and more inclusive recruitment process which will improve data collation was launched in January, alongside an inclusive marketing strategy which aims to targets a wider, more diverse audience, attract more applicants and recruit more from under-represented groups. Additionally, we are legislating to increasing the judicial mandatory retirement age to 75. This will retain around 400 judges and 2,000 magistrates more annually, when compared to retaining the current age of 70."
Tuesday, 8 March 2022
BLAME IS ON OUR OWN DOORSTEPS
Tuesday, 1 March 2022
EXCEPTIONAL HARDSHIP//A LEGAL LOOPHOLE
Tuesday, 22 February 2022
MAGISTRATES` COMPLAINTS//A SIMPLE BINARY PROCESS
Date: 25 January 2022
STATEMENT FROM THE JUDICIAL CONDUCT
INVESTIGATIONS OFFICE
Lindsay Dalby JP
A spokesperson for the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office said:
"Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb DBE, on behalf of the Lord Chief Justice and with the agreement of the Lord Chancellor, has issued Lindsay Dalby JP of the Coventry and Warwickshire Bench with formal advice after she was issued a fixed penalty notice for breaching coronavirus restrictions. In making their decision, they took into consideration that the breach while dining in a restaurant was accidental, that she had reported the matter to her bench chair promptly and that she had apologised for her actions."
ENDS
Fact
Following on from my post of February 15th the above named magistrate was just one of those this year who has fallen foul of the scandalous inquisition of the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office.
Tuesday, 15 February 2022
JUSTICE HENRY VIII STYLE
Tuesday, 8 February 2022
FROM GIN LANE BY HOGARTH TO PRITI PATEL AT HOME OFFICE
Alcohol has been around almost as long as human civilisation. Humans invented alcohol many times independently. The oldest booze dates to 7,000 BC in China. Wine was fermented in the Caucasus in 6,000 BC; Sumerians brewed beer in 3,000 BC. For most people it has been an easy but increasingly expensive method of inducing conviviality and relaxation when partaken in company of others. It has also been a source of being able to escape the stresses of life ancient and modern. Hogarth`s cartoon of "Gin Lane" 1751 is still relevant insofar as the wealthy in a population can do their binge drinking often behind closed or private doors and be sent to rehab clinics when their colleagues and/or families consider that their excesses are a danger to themselves and their finances in one form or another. Just as it is the rich wot gets the pleasure and the poor wot gets the blame it is those low down in the social pecking order who are often before the courts and for them the term rehabilitation is more often than not merely a literary term in a probation report. I have long argued here that addicted habitual offenders should enter a medical pathway and not a legal one unless the level of criminality is such that other factors must be jointly considered. I have used the term "workhouse" a search of which in the search box will explain for those interested my opinion in detail. For the record it is widely assessed that alcohol is involved in around 40% of all violent crime.
Tuesday, 1 February 2022
THE RICH WOT GETS THE PLEASURE................
Everyone is equal before the law. Sentencing guidelines introduced 2010. Suspended sentences were first introduced in England and Wales by the Criminal Justice Act 1967 but their availability to courts was greatly restricted by the Criminal Justice Act 1991 which required the court to exercise its power to suspend a sentence only where it could be justified by the "exceptional circumstances". The Criminal Justice Act 2000 saw the introduction of a new Suspended Sentence Order (SSO) overturning the previous restrictions. All those proceeding statements are (supposedly) in operation today. That might be the theory but the practice has long since deviated from the ideals behind the original planners` intentions. Nowhere have those intentions been more abused or fallen into place depending on one`s political and/or social attitudes than in the used of "custody suspended". I use the term advisedly because that was the manner in which the sentence was devised. The custody level set by the appropriate guidelines for the offence must have had to be breached and then and only then should the determination be made if the interests of justice justice could be served by suspending that custodial period. The sanction provided in law is that breach of the accompanying community service order would allow the custodial sentence to be activated. In 2019 just under 40,000 suspended sentence orders were made. In the eyes of many of the public such orders are regarded as a get out of jail free card. In September 2021 a very interesting examination of this subject was published. My point today is that similar to the explosion in exceptional hardship orders being allowed by magistrates when a driver faces disqualification the SSO has become a tool that the Ministry of Justice hoped and hopes will stabilise or reduce the number of low level offenders in jail. Clearly there are occasions where its use fulfils that ideal but its almost indiscriminate effect is to provide inequality before the law. I have posted here more than once as to why for example a doctor with 12 penalty points avoids a driving ban and a carpenter doesn`t. Prior to the introduction of Sentencing Guidelines magistrates were rigorously instructed in structural decision making when deciding sentence. It allowed free thinking by the bench members to be justified by reason and logic and took offenders` personal and other circumstances into account. If that exercise concluded in a custodial period being appropriate every effort was made to determine whether or not suspension was a suitable option. The statistics seem to indicate that that ladder of progression has in many cases been overlooked.